Fate's Design
by Clamman
Summary: Different beginnings are just another path to the inevitable. Charah, and it won't be any other way, except for the occasional Bryce, Cole and Shaw.
1. Chapter 1

**Fate's Design**

**Chapter 1**

In the dark room, two men slowly slip on equipment and throw a rope out the open window. Both of them go for the exit at the same time, and after a moment's shuffling, the shorter of the two sighs and takes a step back sheepishly, allowing the other to swing himself out of the window. He starts to lower himself down when the lights in the room go on, revealing a woman standing in the doorway with a very unamused expression on his face.

"Charles Irving Bartowski!" demands his elder sister, Ellie Bartowski. "Wht do you think you're doing?"

"Uh... Climbing practice?" he suggests hopefully.

"No way are you just rappelling out of a party. Your own party, I might add, which I invited real, live people to. Come on, Chuck." Shooting a suspicious look at the smaller guy, she continues. "And no, Morgan, before you ask, you cannot come."

"What? Seriously?" asks Morgan. "Aw, come on, there are some hot girls out there! Please?" He gulps as the elder Bartowski levels a steely glance at him.

"That's exactly why you're not going. You'll scare away all the guests."

"Look, sis," says Chuck, interrupting, "I really appreciate what you're trying to do - I mean I would try to cheer myself up if I could. But right now, I don't really feel like it. The last few weeks have been really rough."

Ellie sighs loudly. "You're right. You do need alone time, especially after what happened." After a particularly loud whoop, she looks over her shoulder and sighs again. "Maybe this wasn't such a great idea."

"Hey, hey," says Chuck with a smile. "Go enjoy yourself and have fun. Awesome's going to feel lonely if you don't." He flashes her a small smile and waves goodbye as he continues rappelling down the wall. Morgan looks longingly at the party and Ellie shakes her head whilst staring at him. Following Chuck, he lowers himself down but somewhat halfheartedly.

When the two guys get half way across the lawn, they hear Ellie call from the window. "Are you really sure about that? she says.

"Last I checked, yeah!" he replies.

"Guess who just showed up? Sarah. As in your best friend Sarah."

Chuck freezes. "What? Are you kidding?" Seeing his sister shake her head, he takes off, running off to the Nerd Herder with Morgan in tow. After a while, it screeches away from the apartment to the disappointment of Ellie.

The elder Bartowski walks back out into the party and, finding the blonde standing in the hallway by herself, taps her on the back.

"Hi Sarah," says Ellie. "Haven't seen you in a long time, but looks like you've kept yourself in great shape," She looks at her from top to bottom and gasps. "You look absolutely gorgeous tonight! That dress looks so good on you!"

Sarah smiles at the compliment. "Thanks for that, Ellie, you look amazing too." Glancing at the crowd, she almost frowns. "Is Chuck here? I kinda want to talk, catch up a little."

"You just missed him. I know, this is his own birthday party, but with everything that's been going on, he needs some time to himself."

"Why?" The blonde's eyes narrow with concern. "What happened?"

"Who is this Sarah?" asks Morgan. "You never told me anything about her."

"She's just somebody I knew back in Stanford. Haven't talked to her since I graduated," Chuck replies.

"What was she like?"

"She was, uh, smart, clever... she always said funny wasn't really her thing, but she could make me laugh a lot..."

"She sounds like quite the girl... Did you two ever - well, you know? Go out together?"

"Oh no, we were just good friends. But after I started going out with Jill, well, she still hung out with us but I got the feeling she was always held back."

After thinking deeply, the bearded fellow cracks a smile. "You, my friend, have an admirer." Seeing Chuck smirk, he continues. "Hey, don't ignore my hypothesis completely. It all adds up - girl meets boy. Girl likes boy a lot. Girl wants to go out with boy. Said boy goes out with a different girl. Girl feels devastated and thus acts unhappily."

"Morgan, do you actually think that could be in any way true? She was out of my league - and when I say that, I mean she was **way **out."

The Nerd Herder pulls up in the parking lot in front of the BuyMore. Chuck and Morgan get out and head in straight for the home theatre room. "So what'll it be, my liege?" asks Morgan in a mock English accent.

"I'm thinking... James Bond. Suave and handsome superspy. What could be better?"

"Gotcha, Chuck." Chuck grins slightly and plops himself on the couch in front of the screen. He feels his phone vibrate in his pocket and he pulls it out. There is a new email from Bryce Larkin.

Angrily he slams his phone face down on the table just as Morgan walks in. "Whoa, dude, what's up? Talk to Doctor Morgan."

"Bryce Larkin sent me an email. Apparently what he did to me isn't even worth him coming down here and telling me in person." His face clouds over with anger. "What a spineless coward."

His companion pats him on the shoulder comfortingly and pushes the DVD into the machine, pressing play. "Hey, buddy, I got to agree with you, but that guy isn't worth it - you are ten times better than him. Don't let him get at you like that."

"I guess you're right, buddy. Now, let's get back to the film. You do know how I love Goldfinger."

After two hours, the film ends and Chuck yawns, prodding his sleeping friend and making wake up. "Time to go home, Morgan," he says.

"Is it that time already?" replies Morgan groggily.

"Yes it is. Do you want me to drive you back home? You do look quite tired."

"Nah, one grape soda and I'll be fine. See you tomorrow, Chuck!" The bearded guy walks out slowly whilst taking large gulps from a soda can. "Pedal safe, buddy!" shouts Chuck.

Turning his attention back to the room, he starts to clear away the cans and empty crisp packets. He notices his phone and sighs as he selects the email. The screen goes black and Chuck groans. Great.

All of a sudden a line of text appears. "The terrible troll raises his sword," he reads. "Zork? What was Bryce thinking?" He types in _Attack troll with nasty knife_. "This better be one hell of an apology." Images start flashing across the screen and Chuck sees all of them, frozen into place by them.

Back at the party, Sarah sighs one last time and starts to leave when her phone rings.

"Graham, secure."

"Walker, secure."

"Agent Walker, we have a problem. Your partner, Bryce Larkin, just went rogue."

"What?" Sarah says with disbelief. "That can't be true!"

"He stole the entire Intersect from us and sent it to someone in Burbank. We'll have the identity of his accomplice in a few hours and when we do, you'll track him down and get the intel back."

"Understood," she replies and hangs up. She stumbles over to a chair, leaning against the frame, and just stands there in shock. Ellie notices her and walks over.

"Something wrong, Sarah?"

"Yeah," the blonde responds. "I just got dumped by my boyfriend. He didn't even have the decency to tell me himself, he just got one of his friends to tell me over the phone." She sniffles loudly. "Really didn't expect this at all."

The elder Bartowski hugs her and pats her back comfortingly. "Hey, hey," she says softly. "It'll be okay." Tears start to form in Sarah's eyes as she allows her emotions a little leeway. "Do you have somewhere to stay for tonight?" asks Ellie.

The next day, Big Mike strolls into the store and at once notices his employees wandering around directionless. "Where is Bartowski?" he demands.

Jeff and Lester sidle up to him. "You know, Big Mike," Lester says slowly, "you could put me in charge. I am, as people say, **the man**." The BuyMore manager shoots him a disparaging look.

"I'll entrust the BuyMore to you the day Subway stops selling meatballs. Get back to work, you two, and don't creep out the customers. This is an electronics store, not a carnival show."

He walks into the home theatre centre and finds Chuck passed out on the couch and surrounded by trash. "Chuck." "_Chuck_." "_**CHUCK**_!" The nerd bounces off the couch and lands face down on the floor. Picking himself up very gingerly, Chuck groans as he tries to clear the bleariness from his eyes. After a while, he can see Big Mike standing in front of him with an unreadable expression.

"Chuck," he says slowly, "I know that you're going through a rough patch but you still got to keep strong. Those fools out there will just fall apart without your leadership."

"What about your leadership?" questions Chuck. "You're the employer, after all, and they're yor employees."

"I'll be frank, Bartowski," Big Mike responds with a huff. "Those people out there, they scare me. You're the only one out of the whole lot who actually has any brains so you'd better get using it."

"Well, it's funny you should say that because my brain actually feels like it's gone into meltdown..." He trails off as the manager just walks off back to his office, leaving him standing there. "And I'm just standing here talking to myself. Just great." He shoves all the trash into a bin and takes his usual place at the Nerd Herd desk, nursing a growing headache.

"You look whacked, Chuck," says Morgan, making his way to his best friend after carefully dodging a customer looking for help. "Did you drink the jail juice from the fridge? You know how Jeff puts tranquilizers in that stuff."

"No, Morgan," moans Chuck. "And can you stop talking so loud? Seriously not helping with the headache."

Morgan sighs and heads off to the employee lounge to get a coffee for his weary friend, but freezes as he catches sight of a sexy blonde haired beauty walking straight towards them. "Dude, stop the presses! Who is that? Vicki Vale?"

"Vick-Vick-a-Vicki Vale, Vicki Vale, Vicki Vick-Vick-a-Vicki Vale," Chuck hums under his breath without looking up and continues to fiddle with his phone. "Oh great, it was on all night and now the battery's - hello!" He stops as he recognises the person standing in front of him. After a momentary lapse, he manages to splutter out, "Nerd Herd, how may I help you?"

"Chuck," says Sarah with a smile. "It's Sarah, you know, from Stanford?"

"Sarah! Yeah! Good to see you again." He leans over the desk and they hug a little awkwardly.

"So since when did you start working here?" she asks. "Last I heard you were heading off to a programming job at Roark Industries."

"I did work there for around two years then some, uh, things came up and I ended up working here. The pay's not great, but at least I get to work with my buddy Morgan."

"Morgan?" asks the blonde with a smile. "I didn't know people called their children that any more."

"Carnival freaks found me in a dumpster and raised me as their own," responds the bearded guy with a stupid grin and Sarah gives Chuck a confused look.

"Don't worry about him, Sarah," laughs Chuck. "He means well – at least I think he does." He sees Morgan practically drooling over the floor and glares at him.

"So what brings you to Burbank, or to the BuyMore, for that matter?"

"Well, I was just passing through when I remembered it was your birthday, so I decided to drop in to catch up a little," Sarah explains, "but now it looks like I'm going to be staying for a while. I'm moving here from DC." She produces a phone from her handbag. "And also, my phone is broken and I was hoping you could fix it."

"No problem," says Chuck confidently. "Ah, the Intellicell. This model has a screw which goes loose sometimes…" After tightening the screw back in place, he tries turning it on and grins when it does. "Ta da! Job done."

"Thanks, Chuck, you geeks- nerds" Sarah corrects herself, "really know your stuff." After taking back the phone and checking it, she looks back up. "Hey, if you're not too busy today after you clock out, maybe we could catch up over dinner."

"Yeah, that would be nice. I'll pick you up after I finish here – wait, I don't even know where you live."

"I'm currently staying with Ellie," replies Sarah. "She's giving me a room whilst I get all my stuff into my new apartment."

"Okay then, so I'll pick you up around five thirty," says Chuck. "And it's a surprise where we're going, so prepare to be amazed." He flashes her his thousand watt smile and they stand there for a while, their eyes glued to each other, when suddenly Lester rushes over with a customer and his daughter.

"We got a problem, Chuck," says the Indian. "And you're going to deal with it. Jeff and I have some other work to do." With that, he saunters off to the employee lounge, leaving Chuck with a despairing customer.

"Sir, sir, calm down. What's the problem?"

"I recorded my little girl's ballerina recital video on this camcorder and now I can't find it. Please hurry, she's freaking out as it is." Chuck smiles apologetically at Sarah, who nods understandingly and waves goodbye at him as she walks out of the store. Sighing deeply, he turns his attention back to the camcorder. "Sir, there's no tape in here," he says with a sigh.

The dad stares back nonplussed. "It's digital," he replies. "It doesn't need tape, does it?"

"You still need digital tape," replies Chuck. "You know that, right?" Seeing the dad deflate and the daughter look sadder, he signals to Morgan. "Hey, buddy, I need the Wall."

"You got it, Chuck!" shouts back his friend as he runs off to find the remote. Chuck crouches down to the little girl's level and says, "What's the problem?" She mumbles something about being too tall and always standing at the back. "Let me tell you a little secret and promise me that you won't tell anyone else." The girl nods enthusiastically. "All real ballerinas are tall, so don't let other people tell you otherwise."

Sarah beams as she sneaks another look at the nerd setting up the camera when her phone rings.

"Graham, secure."

"Walker, secure. Listen to me, Graham, Ch- Bartowski is not the guy we are looking for. You have got to be mistaken."

"Sarah, I know you're angry about Bryce and I understand that, but you cannot let that interfere with your mission. You believe this Chuck guy is just a normal civilian - well, let me tell you something - nice guys aren't sent government secrets." After pausing, he continues. "Anyways, why would Larkin send the Intersect to Bartowski if he is what he says he is?"

Angrily, she ends the call and drives off in her Porsche, screeching out of the BuyMore plaza. Sarah slams her fists in frustration against the steering wheel and puts her foot down on the accelerator pedal.

"Fuck!" she swears. She never usually let herself go like this, but this time it summed her feelings up pretty well. _Why Chuck?_ Sarah screams inside. _Why the hell did you send it to Chuck, Bryce, what were you thinking? _"He was your friend," she mutters under her breath as she parks her car and climbs out. Slipping inside the apartment, she locks herself inside her room and just lies on her bed, trying to sort out her mixed feelings.

Later on in the day, Chuck drags himself back into his shared apartment followed by Morgan. "Morgan, why are you even here? I thought your mom wanted you home early tonight."

"First of all," his friend replies, grimacing, "she invited this strange man she's been dating and I have no intention of meeting him like, ever. Second of all, my PC's broken."

"Let me guess, a case of the Demova virus."

"Yeah... So beautiful and yet so deadly." He winks conspirationally at Chuck. "Just like your date tonight. Now her looks could definitely kill."

Chuck shakes his head and opens the door, walking in on his sister and her boyfriend kissing quite fiercely. His face turns green and he starts to make retching sounds, causing the two lovebirds to spring apart.

"Oh - Chuck - uh - we were just - well, you know, just..." says Ellie visibly flustered. She nudges Devon, who is sporting a massive grin, with her elbow amd he too tries to make an explanation. Chuck holds up his hands and eyes them warily.

"Okay, guys," he says, "it's great that you two really like each other, but would it be such a bother to keep it in the bedroom? Some people who live here would rather not see your makeout sessions on public display."

The bearded guy leaps through the door and shrieks happily. "Chuckie boy's got a date!" Observing the long silence after his exclamation, he stares around. "Did something happen before I came in?" Silence. "Well, whatever, but Chuck has got a date."

Ellie's face creases up with a smile and she hugs him tightly. "Hey, that's fantastic!" she says happily. "So, who is it?"

"It's Sarah from Stanford," he sighs dreamily. Seeing a gleam in his sister's eye, Chuck clears his throat loudly. "But it's not even an actual date - we're just catching up over dinner. Nothing's going to happen, we're just friends."

"Yeah, just friends, eh?" smirks Devon. "Sounds more like you have the hots for her. And don't try to deny it, Chuckster, I can tell when you're lying."

"You know what, I'm just going to surrender now and save myself the time I'm going to have to spend to convince you otherwise." Chuck heads towards the guest room door but stops. "Is Sarah here yet, sis?"

"I don't think so, she hasn't come through the door yet and it's all quiet in her room."

Chuck returns to the living room and slouches down on one of the couches. Ellie stares at him. "What?" he asks.

"Are you going to sit there until she comes back?" The nerd replies with a slow nod. "No, no, no, little brother, I am not having this. You are going to get properly dressed for your date tonight."

"But sis, it's just dinner between friends, it doesn't matter - "

"Yes it does, Chuck. I'm a girl - I know what they like - so listen to me." She drags him off to his room. "Let's see what we can find."

Sarah paces steadily down the street and takes a turn down an alley. Stooping over and looking behind a dumpster, she hears a noise behind her and whirs around, lashing out with a roundhouse kick. The man quickly ducks and throws a punch at her, which makes its way past her block and slams into her shoulder, sending her reeling slightly.

"Looking for this?" asks the man with a sneer. He holds up a silver suitcase and weighs it slowly whilst circling around the blonde.

"John Casey, NSA. Would you mind telling me what you're doing here?" questions Sarah as she rubs her throbbing shoulder. She really hadn't anticipated his strength well enough.

"Same reason why you're here. The Intersect," replies Casey. "The NSA Director wants **our** investment back where we can keep an eye on it and I'm going to make that happen." He tosses the suitcase to her feet and smirks. "You can go ahead and try to stop me. Not going to make a difference." He slowly backs away and gets into the back of a black van, which accelerates away.

The CIA agent scrambles back to her feet and slips back into her Porsche, driving back to the Echo Park apartment. She pops open the window and climbs into the room, hastily getting changed into her dress for the night and strapping on several throwing knives.

"Hey, Chuck," Sarah smiles as she walks into the living room, causing Chuck to leap up from the couch and stare at her wordlessly.

"Oh, wow, Sarah, you look great!" says the nerd nervously.

"You don't look so bad yourself. Shall we?"

* * *

**Okay, new story, what do you think? Yes, no, maybe? Review and tell me what you think.**

**P.S. I am still working on my other story. This new one is like a side thing.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Fate's Design**

**Chapter 2**

"So, Sarah, what have you been up to since you left Stanford?" Chuck asks as he takes a sip from his tequila.

"I tried lots of different things - teaching, other stuff like that - I even tried getting into a modelling agency, but they told me that they weren't looking for any new people."

"Well, I think that you would have been a great model, you look absolutely fantastic." Realising what he said, he blushes and tries to backtrack. "From a completely independent point of view, of course, but it's not that I don't find you good looking- wait, what I meant was-"

Sarah smiles as Chuck continues to bumble on and speaks up. "Hey, Chuck, it's fine. Thanks for the compliment - it's been a while since anyone told me I looked good." Chuck responds with his own bright smile.

"What! Really?" he says in disbelief. "I'd hate to be in your boyfriend's shoes. Oh yes, I remember your kickass ninja skills and especially that time when you decked Bry-" He stops before mentioning Bryce's name and for a second his smile disappears from his face. Sarah notices his subtle change in mood and places her hand on his.

"Chuck, I'm really sorry about what he did to you," the blonde says softly, looking into his distant, sad eyes. "You didn't deserve it."

The nerd laughs mirthlessly. "Who are you kidding? I was surprised it didn't happen sooner - guess he wanted to rub salt into the wound by doing it on the wedding day." He sighs. "At the end of the day, I was always just a bookworm and Bryce - it was obvious Jill would choose him over me."

Involuntarily tightening her grip on his hand, Sarah sighs. "Listen to me, Chuck," she says, "don't blame yourself for what happened. You're a great guy and Jill didn't realise that. All she got from running off with him was a shallow guy who just had good looks. She has no idea what she left behind."

Chuck's expression clears. "Thanks Sarah," he says quietly. He flashes her a small smile, and they sit there for a long time, gazing at each other. She suddenly realises that her hand was still firmly gripping his and immediately lets go, trying to hide her blush from him. Chuck clears his throat loudly and stands up. "Uh, I have to use the, um, bathroom."

As he weaves his way towards the toilets, Sarah's eyes follow him, unconsciously resting on his butt. She shakes her head and mentally shouts at herself. _Damn it, Walker, get a hold of yourself. Don't get distracted from the ass- damn it, I mean mission_. She inwardly groans and her phone goes off.

"Graham, secure."

"Walker, secure."

"Agent Walker, I've spoken with the NSA director and basically, it looks like they're going to play dirty to get the Intersect. I assume you've met Major Casey."

"Yes sir, I have. He's a formidable opponent."

"Well, he's going to try and snatch the target away again soon. We picked up his trail and he's heading towards your location so be careful. And make sure we get Bartowski first. Graham out." With that, the line goes dead and Sarah slips her phone back into her purse.

"Who was that?" asks Chuck as he slips back into his seat.

"Oh, just the estate agent," Sarah lies. "I'll be moving out tomorrow."

There is a long silence between them. "I could help if you want," Chuck blurts out. "I wouldn't mind or anything." He looks hopefully at her.

"That would be really helpful, thanks," replies Sarah. In the corner of her eye, she catches sight of several men in suits with earpieces heading towards them. "Hey, do you remember that dessert place we used to go to?"

"Yeah, as I recall one time I lost a bet to you and had to pay for all that strawberry ice cream you ate. I was fifty dollars poorer that day-" He is cut off when Sarah grabs his hand and takes off, nearly yanking his shoulder out of its socket. She discreetly draws one knife out of its sheath on the inside of her thigh and throws it, striking one of the suits in the knee. He keels over as the tranquilizers coating the blade take effect.

They reach the Nerd Herder parked out on the street and Chuck gasps. "Jesus, why me?" he mutters under his breath, observing the slashed tyres. "Great. I'll call the AA and see whether they can tow it home or something." He pulls out his phone and tries to turn it on. "Aw, you are joking me! I charged this for two hours!" The stubborn phone refuses to switch on and lets off a fume of smoke as the internal circuitry burns up. Chuck drops it and takes a step back. "That was... weird."

The blonde shoots a look back inside the club they had been inside and sees the remaining suits forcing their way through a crowd of people. "Chuck, let's go." She sprints down the street and Chuck runs after her. As he crosses a bridge, he glimpses a motorcade passing underneath and stops in his tracks.

"General Stansfield is in that car," he murmurs. He frowns in confusion. "What the..." Seeing Sarah disappearing off into the distance, he continues running again. "Hey, wait up!" he shouts whilst rounding a corner. He skids to a halt right in front of the CIA agent and pants for breath. "I, repeat," he gasps, "I, am, not an, athlete." After a moment, he stands up, regaining composure.

"Sarah, what is going on? One second we're having drinks in a bar, and the next we're sprinting down the street like crazies." He spots a red dot flickering around Sarah's forehead and tackles her down, narrowly avoiding a hail of bullets which zip through where her head had been moments earlier.

"Holy crap!" he shouts. The blonde shushes him loudly and pulls out a key from her purse. She quickly unlocks the door of a nearby Honda and slips in. "Get in!" she whispers.

"Okay, just a- wait, is that even your car?"

Staring icily at him, Sarah points the passenger seat. "In. **Now**." Chuck gulps and gets in. The car speeds away under another hail of bullets, glancing of the bonnet and smashing the windscreen.

"Please God, don't let me die now," squeaks the nerd, with his eyes firmly scrunched shut. He meekly opens them only to see a truck heading straight for them. "HOLY CRAP!" he shouts as the Honda banks hard to the left, fortunately only managing to clip its right wing mirror off. He turns to the blonde sitting next to him with a terrified expression. "What is happening? Tell me! Why are there people chasing and shooting at us?"

"I work for the government," Sarah replies, looking into the remaining wing mirror. There is a black SUV tailing them.

"So what, are you a cop or something? FBI?"

"CIA." Chuck's jaw drops. "And those people back there are from the NSA."

"Then why are they trying to kill us? We're all on the same side, aren't we? And anyways, why are they coming after you?"

"They're trying to get you, Chuck, not me." She spins the wheel right and the car turns down a side street, closely followed by the SUV. Several bullets impact on the boot as Casey fires whilst leaning out the window.

"Me?" the nerd asks. "I'm just a leader of a Nerd Herd and I earn eleven dollars an hour. I might become the assistant manager some day, but I don't even know whether I want that job. How could I possibly by of any interest to them?"

"Chuck, have you been contacted by Bryce recently?" she asks hurriedly, furiously spinning the steering wheel to execute a tight turn around a corner. Sarah looks through the rear window and sighs in relief when the SUV does not appear.

"What! Bryce? Why him?"

"He was working at the CIA as well."

"Bryce is a spy? Bryce Larkin from Connecticut is a spy?"

"A rogue spy! He stole a whole load of government secrets and we traced the message he sent to you. So think! Did he contact you?"

No, I don- wait, he sent me an email last night. And there was an attachment." Sarah's stomach sinks. "Did you open the file?" she asks quietly.

"Yeah, there was this line from a game we made back at Stanford, like a riddle, and I solved it and there were all these pictures... Wait, was I not supposed to see them?"

"If you've seen them, then-" The blonde never gets a chance to finish the sentence when all of a sudden the black SUV smashes into the side of the Honda and flips it over. The passenger seat swings open and Chuck crawls out, dragging an unconscious Sarah behind him.

"Don't be a fool, Mr. Bartowski," shouts Casey, stepping out from his vehicle. "You come with us now and no one will get hurt." Getting no response, he signals to the three agents in the SUV to attempt to outflank the target.

"Come on, Sarah," Chuck whispers urgently in her ear. "I really need you and your ninja skills right now." He takes a peek around the side of the overturned car and sees the three suits approaching slowly with guns drawn. He shakes her by the shoulders and she snaps back into alertness immediately.

Sarah pulls out several knives from their sheaths and Chuck's eyebrows shoot up. "Wow, so you guys really do that."

"Do what?" she replies whilst checking on the position of the agents. They are getting closer.

"You know how in movies the spies have weapons hidden all over their body? Well, another myth proved to be true." A few bullets ping off the upside down car. "So, how are we going to get out of here?"

One of the agents gets too close and goes down after being struck in the thigh by one of Sarah's knives. "It looks like they want to take you alive and judging from what they've been doing, they're probably trying to eliminate me." She throws another knife and there is a thump as one more suit hits the ground. "But none of that's going to happen. Do you trust me, Chuck?"

The nerd looks into her eyes and replies with a firm nod. "Good," she says, suppressing the smile threatening to appear on her face even at this time. "I want you to take this homing device and get to the top of that building. By the time you get there, there should be a helicopter waiting to take you to safety."

"What about you, Sarah? I can't just leave you here."

"I'm sorry, but you have to listen to me. You do not want to end up in their hands. So take this," she presses a small cylindrical object into his hands, "and go." Chuck shoots a fleeting glance at Sarah as he runs off towards the fire escape of the office block.

Tossing her final knife and hitting her target, the CIA agent dashes out towards the prone body of one of the suits whilst dodging fire from Casey. She dives forward, picking up the discarded Glock, and turns, firing it at the remaining NSA agent and forcing him to stay down.

"You're pretty good for a CIA skirt, aren't you?" mutters the Major whilst squeezing off another few rounds. He ejects the now empty clip and slides in a new one, but by the time he takes aim again Sarah has already disappeared. He snarls and follows her up the fire escape.

Several minutes later, Chuck bursts through the doors on the roof of the building and slams them shut behind him. He pushes a crate against the door and steps back to admire his handiwork. Suddenly someone starts hammering on the door from the other side.

"Chuck!" shouts Sarah. "Open the door!" The nerd quickly removes the obstructing box and lets her through. She locks the door and after looking around in the sky, she turns to Chuck.

"Did you damage the homing device?" she asks.

"No! It's working perfectly! So where's the chopper?"

Sarah tries calling with her own phone but can't get a signal. "Casey must be jamming the signal." The doors jar as something slams into them. "That'll be him. Look, Chuck, I may need to point my gun at you." Before he can start protesting, the CIA agent grabs him around the neck and points her gun to his head. Casey kicks the doors down and walks onto the roof, his sights trained on the two figures.

"Hand him over, Walker," barks the NSA agent, "and maybe you'll get out of here alive."

"Not going to happen," responds Sarah, tightening her grip around Chuck's throat. "And if you tale another step, I'll kill him, and we can both go home empty-handed."

"Sarah, you are kidding right?" whispers Chuck. In the corner of his eye, he sees her stone cold expression and can hardly recognise the kind caring person he knows.

Laughing, Casey advances. "Fine by me. You shoot him, I shoot you, and then I throw both your bodies into the sea. Then maybe I can finish off this joke of a mission and get a snack. I'm thinking pancakes."

As Sarah continues to back away, Chuck manages to catch sight of a hotel five blocks away and his eyes roll back. "Sarah," he chokes out from under her headlock. "Sarah!" "Not a good time, Chuck!"

"Can everybody just stop pointing guns at each other for one second and just listen to me!" shouts the nerd. "They're going to blow up General Stansfield! You see that hotel over there? He's making a speech right now and the bomb's going to blow him away!"

"How did you know about his location?" questions Casey. He snarls as he draws his conclusion. "You were working with Larkin."

"No, Casey, wait! He opened Bryce's email. He saw all the images."

"And that means what, exactly?"

"Chuck, if you saw all the pictures, you know the secrets they contain. It means that you're the computer now." Sarah lets go of Chuck and he stumbles forward, rubbing his neck.

"Oh, crap," grunts Casey. "So now all our secrets are in a civilian's head. Beckman will not be pleased." He lowers his aim. "We need get over to that hotel, pronto." He hurries down the stairway. "You two coming?"

Ten minutes later, General Stansfield is finishing off his speech when three people throw the doors open and rush to the centre of the room. The one with brown curly hair lifts the cover off the trolley, revealing a laptop connected to a mound of C4 charges. The security detail in the room immediately starts to evacuate the room and the General himself is bundled away via the back exit.

"Shit," swore Casey. He holds up a massive amount of coiled wires. "I can't diffuse this. Call the bomb squad, Walker."

"It'll be no use; by the time they get here the bomb will have gone off already. There must be some other way." She inspects the wires going into the laptop. "Disconnecting them won't work, there's a failsafe installed. Damn it!"

"Sarah, I can help," says Chuck. "We sell those laptops at the BuyMore. There's a DOS override which may work."

"Chuck, I- "

"Please. Trust me, I can do this. Just let me try to help." He looks sincerely at her and after a moment's hesitation; she steps aside and allows him to use the computer. Chuck smiles gratefully as he starts typing on the keyboard.

"Right, Mr. Bomb, prepare to meet Mr. Internet." He brings up the browser and types a name into the search engine.

"Irene Demova?" says the NSA agent in disbelief. "We're all about to die and you want to have your last little nerdgasm?" The nerd shoots him an angry look.

"Look, you don't know how to deal with this and you want me to help. Well, this is me helping!" He clicks on the first link and then shuts his eyes as several images unsuitable for the general population flash across the screen. The computer gives off a few sparks and after letting off a cloud of black smoke, the screen goes blank. Several seconds pass and the bomb doesn't go off.

Chuck gives off a nervous chuckle. "Woah. I did it. I _did it_! Oh my god. I diffused an actual, ticking bomb!" Beat. "Wait. What if I was wrong?" His face goes slightly pale.

"Don't puke on the explosives, moron," grunts Casey with a smirk.

After the bomb was thoroughly dismantled by the bomb squad, a lengthy argument between the two agents ensues.

"He comes with me. NSA gets him first."

"No way! You saw him out there tonight! He saved all of us from getting killed!"

"It was probably just a fluke," replies Casey dismissively.

"And if it wasn't? He could remember other pieces of intel. Information which we can use in the field to stop even bigger things from happening."

"Well, we can just drop in a cell and let him stare at four blank walls for a decade. We'll get the intel back."

"No! You don't even know how the computer works in his head. You'll crack him wide open."

"Hey. I just break things, I don't fix them. That's someone else's problem."

Chuck interjects at that point. "Both of you! No one is cracking me wide open or anything! I'm not going to spend the rest of my life in a prison just because you say so. And now, if you don't mind, I'm going home." Casey tries stopping him, but the other guy glares at him. "You need me. So don't try telling me what to do."

Chuck storms off by himself, leaving the two standing there.

"I'll put a trace on his phone."

"Don't even bother. It's fried. Anyways, I have pretty clear idea where he's going."

As the sun lazily begins to crawl out of the horizon, Sarah walks over the sand and towards the figure sitting down in the distance. She remembers the last time she was here with Chuck and all her old friends from Stanford. Funnily enough, she didn't really recall anything from that time besides the brown curled nerd.

"Hey," she says softly as she slides down onto the sand next to him.

"How did you find me?" Chuck asks curtly. "I suppose you put a tracker on me."

"I didn't." Sarah gazes out at the orange haze in the sky. "We used to come here whenever we didn't have any classes. You loved to just sit and watch the waves roll up and down."

"Yeah. Life was so simple back then. How did it get so messed up?" Chuck sighs, burying his face into his hands. Why did Bryce do this? **How** could he do this? How could he just ruin my life again?"

"To be honest, Chuck, I have no idea. I was his partner and even so, I didn't notice that anything was wrong."

"So what happens now? Are you going to lock me up?"

"Fortunately, no. You'll resume your normal life with your friends and family whilst we protect you from the bad guys. The scientists back in Langley and Fort Meade will figure out how to get the computer out of your head."

"So once it's out of my head, you and Casey will be gone?"

"Yes, I'll be assigned a new mission and he will too. Then you can be free of all this, Chuck, so don't worry." She offers him a small smile as she gets up. The nerd sighs again and follows her back to her Porsche.

"Can I ask you one thing?" says Chuck quietly and Sarah replies with a nod. "How did you get into this stuff? What happened?" The blonde starts to speak but then stops herself, looking sadly at him. He acknowledges this and gets into the car.

"If you don't want to tell me, I won't pry. Let's just get back home before Ellie completely freaks out. But knowing her, she probably thinking something happened between us."

The blonde quirks an eyebrow and Chuck lets off a real laugh for the first time in a long time. "She has this crazy idea that we were going out. On a date. Silly, right?"

She manages to keep the look of disappointment from showing on her face and replies, "Yeah." _Walker, what have you gotten yourself into_, she thinks as she shifts into reverse gear. _You've barely started this mission and you're already feeling jittery around him. There can be no way this can end well_. The sleek sports car glides off back onto the highway and mingles in with the early morning traffic.

_August 2001, Stanford University._

_It's the start of the autumn term and new freshman students are gathering all around campus. Two guys, one taller, lankier and with brown curly hair and the other slightly shorter, attempt to weave their way through a crowd of new students. The shorter one pushes his way through the crowd and turns around to see his friend still stuck in there, attempting to get past put merely being pushed back further. He offers his trapped buddy a smirk and heads off to the car park, intent on taking his new car for a spin._

_The brown haired guy sighs as he lets himself be carried backwards but nearly trips and falls over a person standing behind him heading in the opposite direction. He turns around and his breath catches in his throat, only managing to smile wordlessly. She responds with a nervous smile of her own._

_The guy finally remembers to start talking. "Oh, ah, um, sorry for nearly knocking you over back there, I didn't mean to at all."_

_"It's okay, I'm fine." There is an awkward silence. She decides to break the ice by introducing herself. "I'm Sarah, by the way. And you are?"_

_He shakes off the nervousness developing and replies, "Charles Bartowski, but you can call me Chuck." The blonde looks at him quizically. "Yeah, my parents were sadists. That's why I'm called Chuck." This elicits a laugh from Sarah and his confidence grows. "Hey, you're new here, right?"_

_"Yeah, this is my freshman year. Everything's kinda new to me here."_

_"I can help with that. Maybe I can show you around campus sometime, if you want."_

_Sarah responds with a smile. "Well, Chuck, get a tour ready pronto because if you don't I'll just look for a map."_

_Chuck beams happily. "Great! I'll show you everything but first, first stop, cafeteria. Although I would steer clear of some of the curries, they are pretty tough on the stomach."_

_The two walk off, still talking and laughing, as a man in a suit looks down on them, talking into a phone._

_"Yes sir, we've located the daughter. She's starting the term at Stanford." Pause. "No, she doesn't seem to be pulling any kind of scam. She also doesn't seem to be aware of what her father is currently up to." Another pause. "Do you want me to bring her in as well?" Pause. "Yes sir, I'll try to approach her, but recruiting her may be a lot harder. I'll do my best. Thank you, sir." He hangs up and heads towards the cafeteria._

_The agent sees the girl sitting at a table with another person, deep in conversation. He sits himself down some distance away to avoid catching her attention but keeps his eyes trained on her. After about ten minutes, another girl shows up and practically drapes herself over the guy, who starts to look a little uncomfortable. The girl's expression hardens as she notices this, and after the new girl drags the guy off somewhere, her posture slumps a little and she looks a little dejected. Getting up, she exits and the agent follows her out into the hallway, where he is suddenly slammed against the wall by a golden blur._

_"Why are you watching me?" questions the girl. "What do you want?"_

_"Calm down, Ms. Walker, don't panic. I am not here to hurt you. I am an agent of the CIA."_

_She laughs derisively. "I'll believe that when hell freezes over." He pulls out his indentification with his free and less painful hand and shows it to her. After seeing it, the blonde looses her grip but still keeps him pinned to the wall. "I've asked you already. What do you want with me?"_

_"Your father, Jack Burton has been arrested for his own protection."_

_"What?" she exclaims._

_"He scammed some pretty dangerous individuals and that was the only way he would be safe. But they know that he has a daughter. They might be coming for you."_

_"So what? Are you going to throw me into a cell as well?"_

_"No. The Director was wondering whether you would like to accept a job proposition. He would like for you to join the CIA and work for us." He sees her hesitate and continues to talk. "It's the only way we can protect you short of bringing you in with your father. And think about it, you'll be serving your country too."_

_The girl doesn't speak for a while, but then she steps back and allows the agent to relax. "I'll join on two conditions - one, my father is treated well. Two, I get to meet and talk with your Director before I join. Okay?"_

_"No problem, Ms. Walker, that can be arranged. And, I suppose this is the start of your new job." He smiles charismatically at her. "On behalf of the CIA, I, Agent Roan Montgomery, welcome you to the spy world."_

* * *

**Well, thanks for all the positive reviews! It was great to see people liked it. As always, please review this chapter as well. Brownie points for those who do it first.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Fate's Design**

**Chapter 3**

Groaning as the alarm clock goes off, the person lying on the bed pulls the covers over her head in an attempt to block out the ringing and the sunlight filtering into the room. In one deft motion, she flicks her wrist and sends a knife flying towards the offending clock, impaling it against the wall. It gives off one last mournful wailing ring before going quiet.

Ten minutes later, the door slowly opens and a man enters, moving slowly towards the prone figure. As he is about to tap her on the shoulder, he is knocked over onto his back and a knife is pressed against his throat.

"Please don't kill me, I'll give you anything," squeaks out Chuck, wheezing after being winded by the unexpected blow. Sarah's hardened expression changes and she quickly gets off him, looking incredibly mortified and embarrassed.

"I am so sorry, Chuck," she apologises. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, I should be," he cringes as he rubs his sore ribs which Sarah landed on, "okay."

"Chuck, I really am sorry. It's kinda like a reflex for me."

"Well, it's a very scary reflex." He eyes the dead alarm clock warily. "Much like many other of your reflexes." Walking over to the small cupboard in the corner, he tugs out the remains of the clock. "It went straight through. I suppose it's kinda cool, but a little disturbing as well."

Sarah yawns sleepily and offers him a small smile. Chuck grins goofily back and then turns around suddenly, his face turning as red as a beetroot.

"What?" she asks, suddenly very self-conscious.

"Your, ah, um, err, top is a little, shall I say, askew," he replies nervously. She looks down and, seeing what he means, readjusts her tank top whilst fighting the blush trying to show itself.

"Um, thanks," she says sheepishly. "Why are you here anyways?" Seeing his reluctance to turn around, she drapes the covers around herself. "You can turn around now."

Finally facing her, he mentally sighs with relief when he sees that she decided to cover herself. It took quite a bit of his self control and his undying respect for women to keep his eyes off her shapely curves, and the fact that he wanted to do it was another problem in itself. _She's a friend, Chuck, remember that, and not to mention she's not interested. At least I think she isn't._

"Oh right, I came over to say that Casey has some news about the you-know-what in my head. Also, Ellie made breakfast." The last part causes Sarah's ears to perk up and she guides Chuck into the hallway, shutting the door. A brief moment later, she exits fully dressed and walks into the living room with a smile on her face. She had been to Chuck's place before and absolutely adored the elder Bartowski's cooking.

"Hello, Sarah, Chuck," greets Ellie as she transfers a pancake from the frying pan to the top of large stack of them. "Help yourself to some food. The maple syrup's in the cupboard." As the two start wolfing down the pancakes with generous helpings of syrup, Ellie grins conspirationally at them. "So..." she asks innocently, "how was last night?"

"We had dinner, some drinks and then..." Chuck's voice trails off as he tries to formulate an adequate and believable story for the remainder of the night. His sister's smile gets bigger.

"Well, good for you two. I've got to get to work now, so you two have fun!" Ellie says as she leaves with her boyfriend in tow. Devon shoots him a thumbs up and Chuck responds with a shooing motion.

"So where are we meeting Casey?" asks the blonde as she places another mouthful of pancake into her mouth and, taking the syrup bottle, drizzles her remaining pancakes with more of the golden liquid.

"At the BuyMore. He told me to get there around nine, but I need to head in early to fix some computers for a client and, seeing that my car's still outside the club, would you mind driving me?"

"No problem," replies Sarah. She places her plate into the sink and turns on the tap, rinsing off the crumbs and syrup stuck on it. After returning quickly to her room to retrieve her jacket and gun, which she secures behind her back, she follows Chuck out.

Around fifteen minutes later, they enter the BuyMore. As usual, the employees are deliberately avoiding work as much as possible except for one greenshirt standing with his back to them. He grunts, annoyed by two Nerds running past him, and easily lifts up a particularly large and heavy box with one hand, placing on the shelf. The greenshirt turns around and motions Chuck and Sarah over.

"Walker, Bartowski," he says, "General Beckman has informed me that there is a scientist who may be able to remove the Intersect database permanently and so we're bringing him over to have a look tonight. His name is Dr. Jonas Zarnow." The mention of his name triggers a flash of images to zip into Chuck's head.

"Uh, that may not be such a good idea, Casey. Our good doctor has been, for the last ten years, stealing top-secret weapon designs and selling them to a North Korean agent, who is currently here in Burbank to meet him."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm pretty sure this thing in my noggin doesn't lie."

Both Sarah and Casey pull out their phones and start conversing with their superiors. Chuck waits patiently for their discussions to end.

"Good job, Chuck," says Sarah, ending her call to Langston Graham. "Agents have been sent to apprehend Zarnow and bring him in for questioning."

"What about the Korean guy? We can bring him in as well, right?"

"That's the thing, moron," grunts the Major. "Relations with North Korea have always been and still are far from rosy. There is a chance that if this guy just disappears, there may be some major backlash." Casey lifts up another box onto the shelf. "For now, we are to do nothing until told by the General or the CIA Director."

"Then what about the thing in my head? How long is it going to be before you can find another person to get it out?"

The Major grunts. "If I were you, I would get my hopes up."

"Right. So back to normal?"

"If you call working a degrading job with a bunch of idiots normal, then yes." Another greenshirt bumps into Casey's back and runs away after Casey growls at him like a hungry bear. He turns back to the pair with a look of disdain on his face. "Anyways, Walker, your cover job starts now." He dangles a badge in front of her.

"Sarah, BuyMore Assistant Manager?" she reads in disbelief. Chuck sighs. He was about to submit his own application to Big Mike.

"The fat man running this place said that he was looking for someone with good PR skills." He hoists another box onto the shelf.

"Hey, I have PR skills too, you know," says Chuck indignantly.

The Major smirks. "The instant he saw her photo, he said that, and I quote, "with a figure like that, Corporate will never take a look at the sales figures ever again". Good luck, Walker." With that, he walks off, his smirk still clearly present.

"Well, looks like you're the boss," says Chuck resignedly. He plops himself down behind the Nerd Herd desk and scrunches up his application form, which he then tosses into a wastepaper bin. "I'll just be here if you need me."

"Oh. Okay." Sarah heads to the employee lounge with her new uniform and she gets changed very quickly. On her way out, she bumps into two Nerd Herd members, one of which is dark skinned (Indian, she thinks) and the other looks like he is drunk.

"Oh-ho-ho, what have we here?" chuckles the Indian. "I'm sorry, miss, only employees back here."

"Well then, it's fine for me." Sarah clips on her badge. "I'm the new assistant manager." The slobbering older Nerd stares at her with a predatory gleam in his eye, which she responds with a clear look of disgust.

"So, Sarah," drawls out the Indian, "you're new here, right? How would you like a quick tour of the trenches courtesy of Lester?"

"And Jeff," mumbles the drunken one.

Without waiting for her to reply, they start to guide her towards the door, when suddenly Chuck enters the lounge with an annoyed expression.

"Jeff, Lester, stop harassing Sarah and let her get started already. You two have a lot of service calls."

"Charles, my dear fellow, we don't do Windows. We are Apple artists."

"Good. A lot of other artists need your help." He drops a large stack of addresses on the table. "Get started." The two Nerds sidle away whilst shooting angry glances at him and shut the door behind them with a slam.

"Thanks," she says gratefully. "Those two are creepy."

"No problem. They're mostly harmless, but you have to watch out for their tricks. One time I nearly got drugged by Jeff after I stopped him from drinking during his shifts." Sarah looks at him with mock disbelief. "Hey," Chuck insists, "it's true! My head did not feel right after that odd tasting latte."

The blonde laughs. "So, how do I look in my new uniform?" She does a little twirl and Chuck's breath catches in his throat as he takes in her figure. The clothes themselves are distinctly average as they have to be (it is only a BuyMore job, after all), but now, when Sarah is wearing them, well, he is using a lot of effort to steer his thoughts away from what he wants to do, and specifically what he wants to do _to her_.

"You look… good," he replies a little too quickly. He quickly gathers himself and coughs loudly. "Um, yeah, I'm going to get back to those computers now, so if Jeff and Lester or anyone else tries harassing you, just tell me, okay?" Sarah nods in confirmation. She can hold her own against pretty much anybody so she doesn't actually need him to do anything. But she still appreciates the gesture.

A few hours later, the new Assistant Manager is aimlessly flicking paper balls into a bin in the corner of her makeshift office, which in fact had been a supply closet ever since the opening of the BuyMore. The dust and the smell is a testament to that.

She sighs deeply and allows herself to relax. Her thoughts wander off and she finds herself thinking about her own situation. And her intentions toward the loveable nerd. Sure, they are great friends and they like each other a lot, but they are still _just friends_.

She, Agent Sarah Walker, has to admit that she is feeling decidedly nervous. _Damn you, Chuck Bartowski, making me feel so worked up._ At that exact moment, the object of her frustrations knocks on the door. Gathering her thoughts, she clears her throat and says, "Come in."

"Hi," he says. Noticing her slouched over her desk and the bin filled with paper balls, he grins. "Bored out of your mind, eh? You know you can take a breather outside."

"Yeah, but every time I go outside, Jeff and Lester are there gawking at me. It's kinda uncomfortable."

Chuck's eyes light up. "How about we sneak out the back and do a runner? I'm pretty much finished here, and I'm sure Big Mike won't mind if you clock off early." Sarah hesitates. "Aww, come on, I know you want to."

Finally, she concedes. "Okay, Chuck. You got any plans?"

"Well," he starts as they walk out the back exit, "seeing that our da- I mean, dinner was interrupted last night, I'm wondering whether you would like to come with me to lunch."

"I'd like that," she replies with a smile. Chuck hops down off the platform and helps her down. Her smile gets larger.

"Hey, my Nerd Herder's back! And it's fixed!"

Sometime later, they pull up outside arrive an Italian pizzeria and after entering, a portly waiter waddles up to them with a huge smile on his face.

"Chuck, my dear boy," booms out the waiter, "how are you?"

"I'm great, Marlo, and you?"

"Good, good. How's your sister Ellie? She and Devon getting on well?"

"Yeah," Chuck replies, wincing a little at the memory of his sister in an intense makeout session. "She's really happy with him - after all, he _is _awesome."

Marlo's smile broadens as he notices Sarah standing next to him. He looks between the both of them. "So who is this beautiful lady, Chuck?"

"Oh right, Marlo, this is Sarah, Sarah, this is Marlo, an old family friend. He runs this restaurant." The waiter pulls her into a bear hug and she smiles nervously at the nerd, who just grins.

After releasing her, Marlo leads them over to a nice quiet table and hands them the menus. He grins happily at Chuck.

"What?"

"I'm glad that you're moving on from that Jill. You were moping around all day long after what happened."

"Hey! I was not moping around all day long!"

"You should've seen him," says Marlo to the blonde. "In and out of here everyday, with no purpose at all." Pausing a little, he continues. "I have to say this, so forgive me for sounding a little cheesy. Thank you, Miss Sarah, for helping Chuck here find happiness again."

Chuck clears his throat as his face starts to redden. "Thanks for that, Marlo, great speech. Um, shall we order?"

The two spend some time looking at the menu when Chuck snaps his fingers. "Hey, do you still do the Chuck Special?"

"For you, of course."

"A Chuck Special then, but just with the vegetables. And no olives either." Sarah beams as she realises that he has remembered a key point about her likes and dislikes. The waiter finishes jotting down the order and waddles off, shooting them winks and grins as he does so. He disappears into the kitchens.

The nerd glances around the restaurant and sees a man in a crisp black suit and a pair of dark sunglasses perching on the bridge of his nose. The guy places himself in the middle of a crowded area and flexes his arms, revealing a white scar running down his forearm.

_A stethoscope_

_A kingfisher in a tree_

_Service records of an Agent Hong Chong-Hyeon_

_A frontal photo of Hong_

_A kingfisher in a tree_

_A stethoscope_

"_Sarah_," he hisses under his breath, "_The guy who just came in is Hong Chong-Hyeon, the North Korean agent Zarnow was dealing with._" Sarah looks discreetly over his shoulder at the agent, who ignores a waiter trying to get him to order a drink and checks his watch.

"What do we do now?" asks Chuck.

"Like Casey said, nothing. We can't afford to take the risk."

"No! We can't just sit by whilst he walks away! Can't we do anything?"

The blonde sighs and shakes her head. "I'm sorry, Chuck, but sometimes... we can't get everyone."

Chuck shoots one last glance at the Korean and sighs in frustration as he sees him leave. Taking a slice of the pizza which Marlo had brought, he wolfs it down. "It just feels wrong to let him go."

"I know that feeling."

Later on in the afternoon, they return to the apartment block and bump into Casey, who grunts in annoyance. "We have a briefing with the General in five. There's been a development in the situation with Hong."

The Major turns around and heads through one of the apartment doors.

"Hey, you can't go in there, it's been rented out already," insists Chuck. Casey sticks his head out.

"Yeah. To me, moron. Now get in already." The nerd rolls his eyes and follows him into his apartment. Casey locks the door behind them and taps on a keyboard, switching on the television screen and revealing the face of the NSA director.

"Major Casey, Agent Walker, Mr. Bartowski," she says in a formal tone, "as you know, Dr. Zarnow is now in our custody and from him, we have managed to ascertain the location of Hong's safehouse. Your mission is to capture him and bring him back _alive_." She stares pointedly at Casey, whose face falls a little.

"Excuse me, General," says Sarah. "I thought that you told us not to act against Hong in any way."

"I have consulted the President himself on the issue, and it has been agreed that we cannot afford to have an enemy agent running around in the country - the risk of retaliation is one we are willing to take. Also, if we catch Hong, we will be able to extract valuable peices of information from him." Her attention is diverted momentarily as she glances at and flicks through a report placed on her desk. "If there are no problems, then proceed with your assignment." Her image blinks out, replaced by the NSA emblem.

Casey inspects his SIG carefully before sliding a new clip into it and loading it with a satisfying _click_. "So this is how it's going to go," he begins, drawing up the floor plan of a warehouse downtown. "I'll infiltrate the east wing. Walker, you'll enter through this door here," he points at the other side of the building, "and wait on my signal. When I get eyes on the target, we'll move to grab him."

"Wait, so what do I do?" asks the nerd.

"Nothing, numb nut," replies Casey as he starts to pack his gear. "First and foremost, you're the Intersect, which means we can't have you getting into trouble." He hoists the bag up and slings it over his shoulder. "You're also just a civilian. You wouldn't last five seconds on the field."

"Casey's right, Chuck," says Sarah. "Things can go seriously wrong, even on a mission which sounds as simple as this one. You might get killed."

Chuck looks as if he wants to continue arguing, but reluctantly stops, sighing. "I get it. I'll be here when you guys get back."

"When I said you're not going to anything, I didn't mean 'stay at home with your geek friends all day'. We still have to keep our eye on you, so you'll stay in the back of the van."

* * *

"Aww, come on Casey, do I have to sit back here?" whines Chuck as he shifts uncomfortably in the back, surrounded by bags of equipment. "It's so cramped! Did it not occur to you that you could've dropped these off at your apartment?"

"Meh," comes the nonchalant reply. "It's fun watching you squirm."

Sarah glares at the Major, who merely grunts in amusement. Dropping her stare, she checks her weapon, making sure that it is in working order. "I'm good to go. Casey, you ready?"

"No need to ask, Walker." He slides open the side door and slips away into the darkness. Sarah hops out but turns around quickly.

"Remember, Chuck. Under no circumstances are you to-"

"Leave the van and if I do, as our ever-friendly Major says, I will be singing soprano for the rest of my life."

This remark makes the CIA agent smile. "Well, personally, I think you are a great singer, soprano or not." Snapping back into agent mode, she continues. "Anyways, just stay in the van until we get back, okay?"

"No problem," Chuck replies. The blonde nods and heads off. He watches her disappear and sighs. "Stay safe."

Sneaking around was always the hard part. You could be the best sharpshooter in the world, but if you get noticed and surrounded, no amount of headshots will prevent from getting overwhelmed and killed, or even worse, captured and tortured for information.

"Move, dammit, before I decide to put a bullet in your skull, miserable fool," Casey growls under his breath as he impatiently waits for a guard to look in a different direction. He breathes in with relief and darts forward as the guard turns around. In one move he grabs the man's neck and twists hard, snapping a few vertebrae and severing the spinal cord.

Stashing the limp corpse in a nearby dumpster, Casey swipes his newly acquired security pass into a scanner and quickly goes in, shutting the door quietly behind him. Looking around, he sees the ladder to the overhanging walkway and scales it rapidly. He hides behind a crate and waits for Sarah to arrive.

Two minutes later, two men walk in underneath him talking heatedly between each other. Casey recognises the one on the right as Hong and snarls as he realises who the other man is. "Damn you, Mitchell, selling us out to the North Koreans," he mutters angrily. "You'll be lucky if you get spend the rest of your pathetic life in a two-by-four cell."

A brief flash of blonde catches his eye and he focuses, finding the CIA agent hiding behind stack of wooden crates. She looks up at him, waiting in anticipation for his Major nods and springs up, firing off two shots. Both hit the North Korean agent's knees and he topples over, shouting in pain.

The traitor, Mitchell, reaches for his holster but stops when he finds himself staring into the barrel of Sarah's gun. "Good boy," she says mockingly. "I would hate to have to waste a bullet killing you."

"You have no idea what you've walked into, Major," replies Mitchell with a definite sneer in his voice. Casey snorts with disgust and jumps down from his position, landing perfectly on the floor below. He walks over to the struggling Hong and draws his fist back. With one powerful swing knocks the enemy agent out stone cold.

"So, Mitchell, why did you sell your country out?" barks Casey, approaching with his gun trained on his head. "Money? Drugs?"

Mitchell responds with a dry laugh. "You really have no idea, do you? And to think that our country is being "protected" by people like you."

"You might want to start talking before I decide to recolour the ground with your brain," threatens the CIA agent, pressing the barrel of her pistol hard against the base of the man's skull to emphasise her point. "You've got five seconds."

"Four." Nothing.

"Three." Still nothing.

"Two." Silence.

"One." Just as Sarah lowers her aim to his knees, Mitchell whirls around and rams his shoulder into her face, knocking her over and sending the gun skittering away on the concrete floor. Casey immediately pops off a few shots, which find nothing but thin air. Mitchell has disappeared.

"Damn, I knew I should've shot that bastard the instant I had a chance." He helps Sarah up. "I'll go after the traitor. You stay here and guard Hong." Taking off, he speeds out of the warehouse, hot on Mitchell's heels.

Meanwhilst, back on the van, Chuck is idly playing with his phone when he catches sight of a man slipping silently closer to a nearby car. The moonlight reveals the face of the man and Chuck's roll back.

_A pizza box_

_A rusty green dumpster_

_Files of an Agent Joshua Mitchell_

_A hierarchical map linking him to several other individuals_

_A strange badge with a bonsai tree_

_A rusty green dumpster_

_A pizza box_

"Oh no! Oh-ho-ho no! Sarah! Casey! There's a really bad guy trying to get away!"

"I'm already on it, moron!"

Mitchell drops to the floor and turns, firing several rounds at Casey's position. Reloading, he continues to shoot whilst moving closer to the car and gets in. The Major dives out from his cover and empties an entire clip, but they impact harmlessly on the bulletproof windscreen. He swears as the car takes off, with Mitchell giving him a mock salute.

All of a sudden, a loud engine roars and a black van ploughs into the escaping vehicle and slams into the side of the building. The engine splutters and cuts out.

Casey rushes over and checks on Chuck. "Bartowski! You okay? What the hell were you thinking?"

The nerd doesn't respond and continues staring ahead with a terrified expression on his face and his hands glued to the steering wheel. Slowly turning his head to face Casey, he stutters, "Di-di-did I ge-ge-get him?"

Responding with a exasperated sigh, Casey nods. "You nailed him real good, moron."

* * *

"Are you telling me that it was the Intersect who prevented Mitchell's getaway attempt and not the two trained agents who were supposed to be guarding him?" asks General Beckman. Sarah curtly nods and Casey makes a apologetic grunt.

Beckman raises one eyebrow. "Well," she says with a hint of annoyance, "don't let it happen again. In other matters, Mitchell and Hong have been successfully taken back to a secure facility, where they are undergoing interrogation for any information they might have. In regard to the "flash" which Chuck had, the other individuals he saw are being apprehended as we speak." She pauses and takes off her glasses, slowly folding them up. "From what we've gathered so far, the badge is a symbol of the organisation he was working for and we have learnt that they have moles in the CIA and NSA. But as of right now, details are sketchy. You'll be apprised of any new developments."

"Has there been any sort of response from the North Koreans, ma'am?"

"Negative, Agent Walker, and let's hope it stays that way. Beckman out."

As soon as the briefing finishes, Sarah grabs her coat and her bag.

"Going to check on the asset, huh?" asks Casey. "Or more appropriately, going to _check out_ the asset?"

Sarah fixes her eyes on him. "Back off with the jokes, Casey. They're not even funny."

"I beg to differ." The Major pauses. "I read up on your files and it looks like you have quite the history with the asset. Should I be worried about anything going on between the two of you?"

"No! And what kind of question is that, anyways?"

With a huff, she storms out of Casey's apartment and moments later, the "Morgan Door" swings open. She climbs in, finding Chuck lying on his bed.

"Hey Chuck," she whispers. "Are you asleep?" He snores loudly in response. "Good. I've been meaning to say this to you for a long time."

Activating a bug jamming device and sitting herself down next to him, she continues. "I like you, Chuck, I like you a lot. Probably more than a friend should and definitely more than a handler should. But I just really needed to tell you that."

The blonde sighs and draws a sharp breath in when Chuck rolls over onto her lap. The mere feeling of his warmth sends electric tingles down her spine and with a slightly shaking hand, she brushes a loose curl of his hair back into place.

"You are the best guy I've ever met in my life, Chuck Bartowski."


	4. Chapter 4

**Fate's Design**

**Chapter 4**

**Main Cast**

**Charles "Chuck" Bartowski - Zachary Levi**

**CIA Special Agent Sarah Walker - Yvonne Strahovski**

**Major John Casey, USAF, NSA - Adam Baldwin**

**Eleanor "Ellie" Bartowski - Sarah Lancaster**

**Supporting Cast**

**General Diane Beckman, Director of NSA - Bonita Friedericy**

**Jacqueline Donovan - Jaime Murray**

**Michele Salvago - Jean Reno**

_Rio de Janiero, Brazil_

A man bursts through a crowd of people, tripping over, and hurriedly gets back up on his feet. He ignores the heckling of the woman he barged into and continues to run, going down an alleyway on the right. Reaching behind him, he pulls out a gun and loads it, pointing it at the entrance whilst backing away.

With his free hand, he takes out a mobile phone from his left pocket and fumbles with it, punching in a number. Bringing it up to his ear, he growls in frustration.

"Come on, come on," he mutters under his breath. Hearing a sound, he swivels around with his gun at the ready. His finger is slowly tightening on the trigger.

"Hello, Enterprise Holdings, how may I help you?"

"This is Daniels, identification code, alpha-hotel-7-4-echo-0." He pauses to allow the person to verify it.

"Confirmed, Agent Daniels. What is your status?"

"My cover's been blown and someone's after me. I've been tailed for the last ten minutes."

"Make your way to the bus station five hundred metres southwest of your position. There will be a transport there within ten minutes."

"Understood, I'll get there as fast as I-" His shoulder suddenly jerks back harshly as a bullet embeds itself there and he tumbles over, dropping the phone and gun. Struggling, he reaches out for his weapon, but a black steel-rimmed boot crushes his hand against the ground. He grunts in pain.

The figure above him flips him over and, keeping a knee against his chest, places the barrel of his gun against his forehead.

"Where is he?" asks the man with the gun.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

In response, the man smashes a fist into the agent's face. "I repeat, where is the agent you were working with? Where is John Casey?"

"Go to hell, you son of a bitch, I'm not telling you anything."

"Wrong answer," snarls the man. The gun flares and the agent immediately goes limp.

* * *

Waking slowly from a refreshing sleep, Chuck yawns widely and rolls over onto his stomach, pulling the covers over his head. _Nhmmm_,he thinks, _dream about Sarah: good. Stupid waking up._ Finally yielding to the persistent ringing of his alarm clock, he gets on his feet and walks slowly into the bathroom. Blinking a bit from the bright sunlight filtering through the window, he fumbles with his toothbrush and accidentally drops it in the toilet. It lands with a plop.

"Great." Carefully fishing out the toothbrush with a lasso of floss, he deposits it in the bin and opens a bottle of mouthwash instead. Ten minutes later, he heads out to the living room with slightly watering eyes.

"Morning, sis," he yawns as he pours himself a cup of coffee. Ellie smiles at him.

"Morning, little bro." She pauses as she notices her brother's eyes. "What's wrong with your eyes?"

"I used Awesome's mouthwash and let me tell you, it has quite a lot of kick."

Rolling her eyes, Ellie continues. "Guess who's moving into one of the apartments here."

"Leonard Nimoy?"

The elder Bartowski slaps Chuck on the shoulder and he adopts a feigned look of hurt.

"Hey, am I not allowed to indulge in my childhood dreams once in a while?"

Ellie pouts. "It's Sarah, you idiot. Now, stop standing around and go help her move in."

"Yes, Ellie, your royal highness." She pouts at him again as she walks out, grabbing her handbag from the couch. Chuck gulps down the rest of his coffee and, taking a slice of slightly burnt toast, hurries out of the apartment, only to run headlong into cloud of blonde hair.

Chuck lunges forward and catches Sarah before she trips over. He grins sheepishly down at her and can't help but notice that her cheeks reddened a little. "Sorry, Sarah."

"It's okay," replies Sarah as he helps her up. "You going somewhere?"

"I was actually coming over to help you to get all your stuff into your new apartment. After all, I did promise you."

Sarah smiles. "Well, if you insist. The furniture's already in there, but there are still two boxes of stuff in the guest room that needs moving. We could get them now." The brown-haired man nods.

"When you said box of stuff, I thought you meant books, or clothes, something light, you know?" pants Chuck as he hauls a heavy crate up the stairs, stopping after a few steps. "What is in this thing?"

The blonde walks past him carrying her own crate with ease and deposits it at the door of her apartment. "Weapons," she replies nonchalantly. "Pistols, submachine guns, assault rifles, and I think a RPG's somewhere in there." She notices his progress up the stairs. "You need help?"

"Oh no, missy, I assure you that I, Chuck Bartowski, will personally get this "box of stuff" through the door and into your apartment."

She quirks an eyebrow at him. "Sure you can," she taunts playfully.

"Watch me." Chuck heaves and lifts the box up. In a sudden rush, he quickly gets into the apartment and drops it onto the floor with a loud thud. Grinning, Sarah enters with the other box.

"Looks like being a gym rat for a whole spring break paid off, huh?"

"Yup," he manages to get out and gingerly straightens his back, grimacing. "Huh. This place isn't half bad, although it seems a little empty."

"Well, I don't really have much stuff of my own, and my personal stuff is in my room."

A mischievous look appears on Chuck's face. "Do I dare?" he asks as he inches his way closer to Sarah's bedroom door. She locks a steely glare at him and points a finger at him. He freezes.

"You watch it, mister."

At that moment, Casey sticks his head into the doorway and adopts a slight look of nausea. "You two enjoy playing happy families, don't you?" Sarah turns her glare to him. "Briefing with the General's in five minutes."

"Well, it looks like someone's got a stick up their ass," mutters the CIA agent.

"Aww, he's not _that_ bad. He's really a cuddly person. On the inside." After receiving a pointed look from Sarah, he corrects himself. "Okay, I admit it, I have no idea what I'm saying. Of course he's as scary as hell."

Laughing a little, she gathers her things. "Come on, let's go before Mr. Stick-up-ass gets the stick rammed up further."

"See? You _can_ do funny!"

Sarah grins as she ushers Chuck out of the apartment and shuts the door.

"Good morning, team," greets General Beckman. "Unfortunately, there has been no major break in the interrogation of Mitchell and his associate – most of the information they have given up is of very little value. However, they did reveal one important piece of information."

She taps on her keyboard and brings up a photo of a brunette Caucasian woman in her mid-thirties which Chuck flashes on. "Ja-"

"Jacqueline Donovan," states Casey, "former CEO of a multi-national mining corporation, arrested two years ago for serious fraud and corruption."

This leaves Chuck's jaw hanging a little. "Do you have the Intersect too?"

"Two years ago, Agent Casey was part of a collabarative undercover operation between the CIA, NSA and DEA to infiltrate Donovan's company and uncover her illegal dealings with several prominent criminal bosses in Eastern Europe. The mission was a success and Donovan, along with her associates, were captured and placed in a high-security detention centre." Beckman looks uncomfortable. "However, she was able to escape from the facility last month."

"With all due respect, General," asks Casey with a hint of anger. "Why wasn't I informed of this?"

"It was deemed to be unnecessary at the time. However, things have changed." She taps on the keyboard and another photo appears. "This is, or rather was, Agent Philip Daniels of the DEA. He was on a routine mission in Brazil when his cover was blown and was killed and torched."

"Daniels was in the Donovan op. He was our third man," remarks the NSA agent.

"Donovan could be trying to get revenge on Casey's team," notes Sarah. "Who was the CIA agent in the team?"

"It was Bryce Larkin, Agent Walker."

The instant Sarah hears the name her jaw tightens slightly.

A photo of a mansion pops up on the screen. "This is the residence of Michele Salvago, a drugs and arms trafficker with operations running all over the world, and also the man who broke Donovan out of prison. He is hosting a celebratory dinner tonight as a cover for Donovan to meet up with him, looking for any leads on the Major's location. Agent Walker, you and the Intersect will enter the mansion posing as guests and capture Donovan and, if possible, Salvago as well."

"Wait a minute," says Chuck slowly, "did you just say that I'm _going on a mission_?"

"Yes I did, Mr. Bartowski. Is there a problem?"

"No, not at all, this is so awes-"

"General!" Sarah's voice is now considerably loud and angry. "With all due respect, you cannot do this! Chuck is untrained and vulnerable, and putting him into the field is a bad mistake! He could get hurt, if not killed!"

"Agent Walker! You will respect my orders! We need the Intersect in there to flash on anything which could be of value. And _if _anything does go wrong, you will be able to handle the situation, won't you? Besides, Mr. Bartowski is the last person they would expect to be a spy. If that is all?" Eyeing the CIA agent, Beckman taps on her keyboard, terminating the link.

As soon as the briefing ends, the blonde stalks out of the apartment angrily and the door slams louder than usual.

"Hmph. Figures," grunts Casey as he reaches for a cleaning cloth and a can of lubricant. Quickly dismantling his pistol, he lays each individual component out neatly and begins his work.

"What do you mean?"

"Hmph." Casey smirks. "You're thicker than I give you credit for."

"Hey!"

"You really can't see it, can you?" He shrugs and reassembles the pistol quickly. "Meh. Whatever. You'll need some proper clothes for tonight. Tux is in the spare room."

"Yeah. Thanks." Chuck walks to the spare room and tries on his tux, finding it a perfect fit. "Um, Casey? The tux itself is great, but can I ask you one thing?"

"Do you have to?"

Chuck glares at him. "How did you know my size?"

"We're the NSA. We know everything there is to know about you – daily routine, habits, food preferences, that sort of thing."

"What? My _daily routine_? My _habits_? You are kidding me! And my _food_ preferences?"

"Like I said, everything."

"You're like a creepy stalker, you know that?"

"Better than fantasising about Walker all the time."

The nerd's face goes bright red. "I do not!"

"Try saying that with a little more conviction, moron. Don't think I can't see where your eyes go."

Chuck's mouth opens and closes wordlessly as he tries to respond. After a moment, he turns around and walks out, flustered.

* * *

Later on that night, the door to Chuck's apartment slowly opens and a figure carefully slips out, turning around to close it behind him. He is surprised by a loud scream.

"OH MY GOD, A BURGLAR! TAKE THAT!" With another shout, Ellie whacks the figure hard on the head with her handbag.

"Ouch! Ellie! Calm down, it's me! It's Chuck!"

"Oh…. Oops, sorry! Did I hurt you?"

"Of course you did! You clobbered me with your handbag!"

"Well, you should have been so shifty! You scared me!"

"Head! Bag! Bruise!"

"You scared me!" There is an uncomfortable silence between them. "Anyways, why are you so dressed up?"

"I'm going to a party! A, um… fancy dress party! I'm Bond, James Bond." He mimes blowing smoke from the barrel of his hand/gun.

"Well, I hope you enjoy yourself," Ellie says as she enters the apartment. "You bring Sarah home before midnight, okay?"

"Aww, sis, why do you always think that?"

"You've bought a bouquet of her favorite flowers _and _dressed up for her." The elder Bartowski grins. "A girl's gotta dream, Chuck, a girl's gotta dream."

Chuck groans and knocks on Sarah's door. It swings open and, taking one look at Sarah, he freezes. She is absolutely stunning - the sleek blue dress she is wearing hugs and accuentuates her curves perfectly, and her long blonde hair is combed into loose wavy curls. _Move, you moron, do something_, Chuck thinks, _anything. It's not like you don't already look like an idiot for gaping at her._

"Oh yeah! These are for you." Chuck hands her the flowers.

"Gardenias... you remembered." Sarah allows herself a small smile.

"I pride myself on my ability to remember all the little details of Sarah Walker." She blushes. Continuing hurriedly, he says excitedly, "So... my first mission, eh?"

"Chuck, we have to talk about this," says Sarah seriously. "If you can't tell, I'm not okay with bringing you along to the mansion tonight. First of all, you're not field trained at all, and secondly, there are people who care about you a lot and don't want you to get hurt."

Chuck sucks in a deep breath and he steps right next to her, taking her hands. "Hey," he says softly, "I promise I'll stay out of trouble. Don't worry!"

Sighing, she sits down. "You know I'll worry about you just the same."

"Yeah..."

"Just lay low and don't get noticed. If you have a flash, tell me through the microphone in your watch."

"Okay, don't get noticed, flash, watch, you, got it."

Chuck opens an envelope on the table, revealing an invitation. "_You are cordially invited to dine with Mr. Michele Salvago - Charles Carmichael_."

"That's your cover identity - Charles Carmichael, businessman, dealing in stocks and shares, but looking to expand into more shady areas."

"Right. Charles Carmichael. Got it." Chuck absentmindedly fiddles with his shirt cuff. "When are we heading out?"

"Just waiting for Casey. He'll be in the van whilst we go in."

"Doesn't it defy logic to bring him closer to the person who wants him dead?"

"He'll be in the van the whole time and anyways, he can handle himself."

There is a knock at the door and Sarah opens it, letting Casey in. "What's up with Bartowski?" he asks. "I'd have thought that he'd be really hyper."

"Just nerves," lies Sarah.

"So, Casey, how was you first mission like?" asks Chuck.

Casey growls at him. "Curiosity killed the cat, moron, remember that." Chuck gulps nervously. "You'll need some sort of protection just in case someone comes at you."

"Whoa, slow down Casey, nothing's going to happen tonight," protests the nerd.

"A gun, moron, to protect yourself from other people with guns." The Major hands a gun to him. Seeing the look on Chuck's face, he groans. "It's a gun which fires darts filled with a non-lethal tranquilliser. And yes, your aversion to violence is also on your file."

_An hour later_

A black Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder rolls up the driveway, its engine humming loudly as it does so, and stops. Two servants open the door and Chuck steps out. He heads to the other side and helps Sarah out as well. Pulling out the invitation from his jacket, he shows it to a security guard.

"Charles Carmichael and Serena Langford. I'm here to meet Mr. Salvago."

The security guard nods. "Of course, Mr. Carmichael, Ms. Langford. This way, please." He leads Chuck through the entrance hall and into the main hall. It is filled with guests, all preoccupied with talking and the drinks, and Chuck flashes immediately on several of them.

The flash is seen by the guard, who eyes Chuck suspiciously. "What's wrong with him?"

"Oh, nothing, he just has a small problem with his eyes," assures Sarah. "Nothing serious."

The guard nods and heads away, periodically glancing back at Chuck. The CIA agent turns to her companion and nudges him.

"What did you see?"

"There are some very, _very_, _**very **_bad people here tonight. That guy's a paid assassin," Chuck gestures at a Chinese man in his late twenties standing by the fountain, "this deceptively harmless-looking old lady is the head of a Russian crime family, and you see that happy-smiley-chubby guy with all the ladies?" He shudders. "Was it really necessary to use such a graphic image?"

"Don't worry about them right now. Donovan should be somewhere here."

Casey's voice crackled through the radio. "Hurry up, you two, I've got a bone to pick with her. I liked Daniels." He grunts. "Couldn't say the same for Larkin though. No offence, Walker."

"None taken." Sarah glances around the room and spots her targets talking by the bar. "I've got eyes on both of them." The two figures shake hands and with a smile, the man slips away into the crowd. "I'll deal with Salvago first. Chuck, stay put and don't draw attention. Okay?"

"Yeah. Not going to move an inch," replies Chuck and Sarah smiles brightly at him before disappearing into the crowd after Salvago.

Idly, Chuck motions to a waiter, who walks over. "Vodka martini, shaken, not stirred." The waiter nods and scuttles off to get the drink.

Sarah allows a small smile to form. "Oh, and will you be speaking like Sean Connery tonight?" she whispers into her comlink.

Chuck coughs loudly and attempts to cover up his embarassment. "College was a long time ago, it's not like I still do that play-pretending..." His voice tails off as Sarah laughs quietly.

The waiter returns with his drink and hands it to him. "One more thing, sir. The lady at the bar wonders whether you could give her some company." Chuck looks past the man and sees the woman, who gives him a small wave. He gulps as he recognises her.

"Thanks, I'll consider it." He offers a smile to Donovan, who pats the stool next to her. Reaching up to brush a stray curl away, he brings his watch to his mouth and hisses, "Casey! I think I'm in trouble!"

"What did you do, Bartowski?"

"It's not what I did, so much as what I am."

"No time for your stupid riddles, numb nuts, get to the point."

"I think Ms. Donovan is hitting on me. She wants me to sit with her."

"Does she look urgent?"

Chuck notices the increased speed of her tapping on the stool. "Yup."

"Then go, before she comes over and you start spluttering all over her."

"But I can't do thi-"

"Go! Now!"

Reluctantly picking himself up, Chuck makes his way to the bar and sits down next to Donovan. "Hi, I'm Charles, Charles Carmichael." He smiles winningly at her.

Donovan giggles girlishly. "Well, Charles, I'm Jacqueline, but I prefer Jackie."

"Well, Jackie, let me say that you look absolutely beautiful," compliments Chuck. She giggles again.

"A charmer. Wonderful!" She takes a sip of her drink. "And a handsome one too." Leaning forward, she deliberately closes the distance between her and Chuck.

Meanwhile, Sarah follows Salvago to the door of a private suite, which he opens and closes behind him. She slips off her heels and snaps off the heel from one of them, and messes up her hair a little. Opening the door, she saunters in drunkenly and Salvago whips around.

"Oh, hello handsome," she slurs out. "I must have taken the wrong turn somewhere."

The man grins at his apparent luck and approaches. "Well, Ms.?"

"Serena. Serenaaaa Langfooord."

"Well, Serena, I wouldn't mind if you stayed here with me for a while."

"I wouldn't either," replies the blonde. She rubs her right ankle. "Could you help me to the bed? My heel snapped and now my ankle's aching a little."

"Sure." Salvago helps her over and takes every opportunity to stroke her arms and hips, smiling as he does so. Sarah growls under her breath and lashes out with a sharp right hook, knocking him out cold. He collapses onto the ground and stays there.

"Sorry," she spits, seething at him. "I don't put out on a first date." Dragging him across the room, she shoves him into a cupboard and locks it. "Casey, I've captured Salvago. On my way to Donovan now."

Casey gives off a short barking laugh. "Bartowski's already beaten you to it and it looks like he's doing a good job. Little Jackie all over him."

"What! How could you let him?"

"_She _came onto _him_, and he seems to like it. The woman is pretty attractive."

Storming out quickly, Sarah finds Chuck at the bar with Donovan draped over his side and her anger flares up. "Chuck," she growls with grit teeth, "get that woman of you _now_."

Hearing the underlying threat of instant death in her voice, Chuck gently removes Donovam from his arm.

"What's the problem, Charles?" she asks, playing with his curls. _Keep your damn hands of him_, the blonde yells in her head. _You don't deserve to touch him_.

"Tell her that you want to take her to a room."

"Ahh, umm, ehh," stutters Chuck, "would you like to come with me to a room?"

"Would I?" replies the brunette huskily, eyeing him predatorily. "Lead the way, Charles."

The CIA agent tails them to the private suite and once inside, she grabs the other woman by the front of her dress and headbutts her hard, rending her unconscious. "Skank," Sarah mutters under her breath.

"Whoa! You just- you just- completely kicked her ass! That was amazing!"

Grinning a little, she nods. "Thanks, Chuck." Hearing footsteps approaching the suite, she quickly shoves Donovan under the bed and turns to Chuck. "Sorry about this," she says.

Before he can respond, Sarah grabs the brown haired man by the shirt and crashes her mouth to his, fiercely kissing him. His eyes widen at the sudden move and makes several surprised murmurs, trying to back off.

"What are you doing!" he hisses.

"The guards are coming our way!" The door opens and a guard sticks his head in. Immediately, she presses her lips against his and feels him slowly relaxing into the kiss. _Oh my god. I'm kissing him. I'm kissing __**Chuck**__. Dammit, I know I shouldn't but it feels... so right._

His mind went into overdrive the instant Sarah started kissing him. He can hear his heartbeat pounding away in his ears, thumping harder and harder as his breathing becomes faster and more laboured. _Oh my god. I'm kissing her. I'm kissing __**Sarah**__. And she is kissing back. This has to mean something... right?_

Chuck pulls away from her lips and attacks her neck, slowly trailing kisses down her jawline. With her self-control and rational thinking fading, she involuntarily moans as his tongue finds the sensitive spot on her neck and, as if he sensed her pleasure, Chuck continues to focus his attention on that spot.

"Um, sorry for the intrusion," mutters the guard and turns away, leaving the two alone again.

As the steps die away , the agent inside of her finally regains some control and Sarah breaks away from him, still panting slightly from the intense make out.

"We need to get these two back into the van."

Seeing her shift back into agent mode, Chuck sighs. "Yeah. Totally."

"Wait, Chuck!" Sarah brushes her hand against his face and rearranges his curls. "Can't have you looking disheveled. You're very handsome tonight." she says breathily. For a moment, it seems as though they are leaning in for another kiss, but the blonde pulls away at the last second. "Mission."

"Aww, can't it wait?"

_An hour later_

"I miss the car," whines Chuck.

Casey smirks. "Don't worry, Bartowski, you get plenty more chances to ride in one. Now hurry up, Beckman wants us to report in five." Chuck nods and heads to his apartment. Just as Sarah goes to follow him, Casey pulls her back.

"You and I need to talk."

"About what?"

"You're not expecting the "play-dumb" trick to work on me, are you? I saw everything that happened back in the suite after you beat Donovan senseless."

"Ho-" The truth strikes Sarah. "You put a button camera on him."

"Of course. An asset like him needs to be under constant surveillance." He pauses. "The point is, I can see where you two are trying to take this and it's not going to end well for either of you – asset-handler relationships don't work. Your feelings will impair you judgment, and you'll end up getting yourself and maybe even him killed. So I'm only going to warn you once – just do what you used to, stay friends, and if you _do_ try to make it more, I'll be forced to file a request for a 49-B. Understood?"

"Case-"

"_I said, am I understood_?" The Major interrupts sharply, glaring at her.

"Yes."

"Good. Glad we got that sorted." He heads into his apartment, leaving the blonde fuming by the fountain.

"Congratulations, team," enthuses General Beckman. "Thanks to your efforts, Donovan is once again in custody and this time, I assure you, she will never escape." She turns to Chuck. "Well done on your performance last night, Mr. Bartowski. Maybe we'll make a field agent out of you yet."

The General goes on, detailing the capture of the other individuals at Salvago's mansion, but it's just a faint buzz to Sarah. She catches a loving glance from Chuck and this makes her more determined to be with him. _What the hell does Casey know about caring for another person? He can kiss my ass._

The screen blanks and Chuck whoops. "Successful mission! Can I get a hi-five?" Casey merely groans and walks away. "Come on, big guy, you know you want to!"

"He's gone, Chuck." Sarah slings her jacket over her shoulder and starts to walk out, but Chuck pulls her back into a close embrace, sending her mind spiraling towards shut down. Mental alarm bells and sirens go off in her head as she remembers the surveillance.

"Wait, Chuck, we need to talk."

"Can't it wait?" He almost makes it to her lips but she pushes him away.

"Not here," whispers the blonde into his ear, "there's surveillance everywhere. Come with me." She leads him out to her car and turns around to him with a frown. Reaching forward, she rips off the entire front of his dress shirt and stuffs it in her handbag.

"Sarah! What- what is this?" Chuck gestures frantically at his exposed chest. "Why did you restyle my shirt?"

"There was a camera in one of the buttons. And anyways," Sarah shrugs with a glint in her eye, "I think you do look good without a shirt on."

Chuck's face goes a dark shade of crimson and he pulls his blazer over his chest. "So where are we going?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

The Porsche slows to a halt on a beachside road and Sarah jumps out, practically hauling Chuck out after her. They head down the beach and sit down, letting the waves lap at their feet.

"Chuck-"

"Sarah-"

"Wait, let me go first." Sarah gazes hopefully into his eyes and he relents. "You know I like you a lot- you're my best friend, for crying out loud. And I can accept that, being just friends. But I want to be more than that - I want to be with you, Chuck. And now I've kinda put myself out there, so..."

Chuck stares at her silently and for a moment, Sarah feels more vulnerable than she has ever been. And she had been captured by Afghani warlords once.

The tension holds until slowly, the trademark Bartowski grin develops on his face. "Wow," he manages get out. "Oh my god. Wow."

"So you feel the same?"

"Of course I do!" Her heart races at his confirmation and she leans forward, bringing her lips to his. This time it is less rushed and much more passionate, leaving them both gasping a little for air.

Chuck grins again. "How couldn't I? You're the most amazing woman I have ever met in my whole life, well, besides Ellie of course."

Sarah laughs a little and wipes her watering eyes. "Way to ruin the mood, Chuck. Rule of thumb - never mention your sister again when we're doing our thing."

"Zipping my lips." He mimes zipping his mouth shut and Sarah pouts.

"Don't do that," she whines, "now we can't kiss properly."

"Of course, what was I thinking?" He pulls her into another kiss, which Sarah breaks after a while.

"One more thing - we can't let Casey know."

"What could he possibly do? There's you, and I have faith in my kickass ninja girlfriend."

This earns him a playful nudge in the side. "I'm your kickass ninja girlfriend, am I?" She pauses, considering. "Girlfriend. I like the sound of that."

"I do too," agrees Chuck, nuzzling her neck and causing her to sigh in contentment.

Shaking her head and regrouping her thoughts, she continues. "I really need to tell you about the situation with Casey." The curly-haired man rests his head in her lap and gazes up at her. "Okay. In CIA terms, you're what is known as an "asset", and I'm your agent "handler". I look after you, and you provide useful intel for the government. However, the two of us are not allowed to be seeing each other as you-know-what." She pauses to allow Chuck time to digest the facts.

"Casey has caught on to us and he's threatened me with a 49-B." Seeing the confused look on her boyfriend's face, she continues. "It's a long complicated clause in the regulations, and basically at the end of it, I get reassigned permanently and will never see you again."

"But the risk - we might never see each other again!"

"But it's worth it, right? I really want to be with you."

Beat. "I do too. So basically, keep Casey out the loop. What about Ellie and Awesome?"

"Only if you make sure they don't tell anyone else."

"Awesome!" Chuck leans up and captures her in a deep kiss. "They'll be thrilled. You know, they were pushing for the two of us to get together from instant we met."

"Really?" The blonde strokes his chest, tracing random shapes on it.

"They kinda knew, I guess. And they were right." Chuck sneaks another kiss and Sarah giggles. After an hour or so, they pick themselves up and head back to the Porsche, hand in hand.

At around four in the morning, the apartment door opens creakily and Chuck slips inside, closing it noisily behind him. He plonks himself down on the couch, smiling goofily from ear to ear.

Hearing the commotion, Ellie walks blearily into the living room. "Chuck, why are you still up?" She notes his clothes. "Stayed up all night did we?"

"It was well worth it. Sarah and I are together." He quickly shushes his sister, who is almost shrieking in joy. "Keep it on the down low, okay? Admittedly, we've known each other for a long time, but _this _is still just a new thing."

"But-but-but-but-"

"You can tell Awesome, but that's it okay?"

The elder Bartowski hugs her brother tight. "I am so happy for you!"

"Yeah," replies Chuck happily. "I am too."


	5. Chapter 5

**Fate's Design**

**Chapter 5**

**Main Cast**

**Charles "Chuck" Bartowski – Zachary Levi**

**CIA Special Agent Sarah Walker – Yvonne Strahovski**

**Major John Casey, USAF, NSA – Adam Baldwin**

**Eleanor "Ellie" Bartowski – Sarah Lancaster**

**Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcombe – Ryan McPartlin**

**Morgan Grimes – Joshua Gomez**

**Supporting Cast**

**Michael "Big Mike" Tucker – Mark Christopher Lawrence**

**Jefferson "Jeff" Barnes – Scott Krinsky**

**Lester Patel – Vik Sahay**

_Another beautiful day_, thinks Chuck as he walks through the sliding double doors of the BuyMore and makes his way to the Nerd Herd station. _I swear there's a skip in my step. Whatever. I feel good!_

"Morning, buddy!" He relaxes into the office chair and swivels aimlessly around, with a huge smile on his face. Morgan, however, is looking somewhat depressed as he slouches to meet his friend.

"Dude, whilst I'm really happy that you finally got together with that super hot blonde valkryie-"

"Who told you?" Chuck asks, looking around nervously for the looming figure of his NSA handler. Morgan merely smiles.

"Chuck, I've been your best friend for what, twenty years? I'd have to say I'm quite the expert when it comes down to reading you like a book."

"Sure…" Chuck looks skeptical. "Anyways, buddy, why are you all slouchy? You didn't spend last night doing that creepy thing I will never name?"

"Chuck, it's just caring about someone enough to find out things they won't tell you themselves," Morgan insists. "There's nothing wrong with it."

"First of all, it _is_ stalking, and secondly, there _is _something wrong with it. The law has made it pretty clear."

"Whatever, Chuck. Back to the main point," Morgan slumped over the desk, "dude, I'm dying here, my sales figures are rock bottom."

Chuck's eyebrows rise. "But you _never_ care about your sales figures."

"Well, normally I wouldn't give a damn about it, but Big Mike…" Morgan winces. "Well, let's just say there's trouble in paradise."

"Lady Big Mike?"

"Yup." He gulps. "Whatever she's doing, everybody here's suffering because of it. Big Mike made Jeff take a shower. And wash his hair."

It is Chuck's turn to wince. "I'm guessing that didn't go so well."

"There was a definite amount of biting and scratching involved." Both wince.

Eyeing a nervous looking customer standing in front of the TV wall, he gets up and straightens his shirt. "How do I look? Professional?"

"Gel your hair, Morgan, I've told you hundreds of times, you look like you're still in primary."

Morgan sighs. "Fine. But when I die alone without a wife, you know it's your fault." He scoots off, calling to the customer. "Sir! Yeah, you! Sir! Buy this television! It's expensive!" The man, jumping in fright, takes off running with Morgan chasing after him. "BUY THE TELEVISION!"

Chuck sighs. _Some things never change._

"BARTOWSKI! GET IN HERE! NOW!"

He sighs. _Definitely_. Walking into the BuyMore manager's office, he sits down in front of him.

"Yes, Big Mike?"

The man huffs and takes a bite from a muffin he seems to have produced from nowhere. "You have a massive backlog of service calls, Bartowski, and people have been ringing in the second we opened. Care to explain why you weren't here yesterday to deal with it?"

"I had the day off, Big Mike, and as I recall, you told me to take a break."

"Well, consider that statement null and void. Get back to work." As Chuck leaves, he adds, shouting, "Hurry up, slacker!"

Shrugging off the insult, he heads back to his desk, retrieving a clip and flicking through the repair requests. Just as he is about to head off, he feels a soft tap on his shoulder and beams, turning around.

"Hey, you," Chuck says, leaning in to kiss her, but Sarah stops him just in time, glancing upwards at the security cameras. He sighs mentally and resigns himself to a hug. _Hmm_, he thinks. _Still feels good though_.

As his arms wrap around her, a warm feeling rushes to her head and something begins to do backflips in her stomach. She blushes lightly.

After he releases her, she maintains a hold on his hands, gently swaying them.

"I was waiting for you to arrive," she replies, and then pouts. "But I have to say, I'm a little annoyed that you're late. I was hoping for," she lowers her voice to a huskier tone, "_some alone time with you_."

This causes the brown-haired to redden a little. "Ah, well, um, good to know!" Glancing at his watch, he groans. "I'm sorry, but I've got to run, a whole load of service calls came my way. Aww, don't look so sad… I'll make it up to you tonight, okay? I'm hoping this date will go better than the last one, which didn't end quite as I had hoped."

"Really? So how did you think it was going to end?" Sarah smiles seductively and Chuck groans.

"You're killing me here, Sarah."

The blonde smiles and gives him a discrete peck on the lips. "Hurry up, then. Maybe you'll last long enough to go on our date tonight." With another groan, he heads out and she allows herself a little sigh of contentment before heading back to her cramped office.

"Did you see that, Jefferson?" asks a voice from behind a stacked mound of blenders. Another man responds with a murmur of acknowledgement and the two of them creep out from behind their cover.

"Looks like our boy Chuck's got blondie in his bag," remarks Lester.

"He doesn't know how lucky he is," agrees Jeff. "First the brunette…"

"Jill. She was _hot_."

"And now the blonde bombshell as well. He's making the rest of us look bad."

Patting his companion on the shoulder, he sighs. "One day, Jeff. One day we'll find someone like that. But how would you feel about spying on little miss Sarah for the while?"

Jeff grins. "I thought you'd never ask." He brings up the video camera in his hand. "I've already started."

"Fine work, my friend." Both of them turn around and make a strangled shrieking noise when they find said blonde bombshell standing behind them looking very unimpressed.

"What do you think you're doing?" she questions, her voice laced with venom. "I don't appreciate people spying on me, so if I catch you again I'll make life very uncomfortable for the two of you. Understood?"

"I had a shower an hour ago and my hair is smoother than silk. There's nothing you can do to make my body more defiled," Jeff leers. Sarah stares at him with disgust and Lester facepalms. Hard.

"Jeff, Jeff, you have to know _when to shut up!_" he hisses to his friend. "You see, Sarah, we were simply, uh-"

With a groan of disgust, she snatches the camcorder from them and stalks away, dismantling it very forcefully and removes the memory card. She places it on the ground and crushes it with a single stomp. The Indian gulped loudly.

"I think I nearly had a heart attack." Seeing the dreamy look on his friend's face, he groans and walks away, leaving Jeff in his own fantasy.

Later on in the day, as the BuyMore is closing down, the blonde sighs in relief as she finishes signing off the final piece of paperwork and drops it onto a stack of sheets. Impatiently checking her watch, she glances expectantly at the front doors.

As if answering her hopes, Chuck appears right in front of her and smiles brightly. "So, how was your day?"

"Absolutely horrible. I swear, if I ever have to sign for another package delivery, it'll be too soon."

"If it's any consolation to you, my day wasn't any better – do you have any idea how many people call as a joke? I had to run around all day, and it turns out half of the calls were fake." He runs his hand through his curled hair. "I spent half an hour knocking on the door of a warehouse down at the docks. Turns out it was empty."

"Sounds like you had a stressful day. I know just the thing to help you relax." She takes him by his hand and leads him out to her Porsche. "Time for our date, mister."

"What about Casey and his bugs?" Seeing the mischievous gleam in his girlfriend's eye, he groans. "Something makes me feel that I don't want to know the answer to that."

"I didn't do anything! Well, nothing serious anyways. I may or may not have injected strong laxatives into his Hot Pockets."

"You are evil, I tell you, pure evil," he taunts. She gives him a quick peck.

"Personally, I think you love it."

_A short car ride later_

The Nerd Herder stops outside the Santa Monica pier and Chuck slips out, running to open Sarah's door. He bows deeply as he does so and she grins as she steps out. "So, Mr. Bartowski, what are we doing tonight?"

"Hmm, depends." Sarah slaps him on the arm. "Ow! That hurt!"

"Aww, you want the pwetty girl to kiss it bettah?" Sarah taunts.

"That actually sounds pretty appealing," Chuck says and the blonde laughs. "Anyways, in response to your previous question, it really does depend."

"On what?"

"Whether the phrase "Street Fighter" still mean anything to you."

Sarah's eyes widen. "Don't tell me… seriously?"

"Hey!" the nerd exclaims. "You love the arcade! As I remember, I lost many a match against you on Street Fighter. You were a mean Chun Li."

"That was a long time ago, Chuck," Sarah says. "Who says I'll be any good now?"

"From what I can see, you are very, very good with your hands, what with all that knife throwing, gun shooting, and other hand-related spy things."

"So my hands are only good for spy stuff, huh?" Sarah whispers into his ear. "Nothing else at all?" She drapes a hand over him and begins fiddling with his hair. "You want to rephrase that?"

Chuck nods dumbly, finding himself completely captivated by the beautiful woman. _Oh my god, Chuck, you must be the luckiest man on the entire world. Scratch that, you are the luckiest man in the universe! Bryce Larkin can kiss my ass. _"Uh huh," was all he managed to get out.

"What was that?" Sarah's voice has taken on a playful taunting tone.

Fortunately, Chuck's blank mind finally starts to work again. "Your hands are great… for everything, you know, uh, really multipurposed, like, um suited to lots of things, spy stuff and, ah, the wonderful thing you're doing right now."

"Good to know," she answers with a grin.

"Come on, Sarah Walker, don't tell me you're too scared to play a video game."

Sarah stares at him. "You're going to regret challenging me, Charles Irving Bartowski."

An hour later, Chuck and Sarah leave the arcade, with him looking a little deflated. She pats him consolingly on the back. "It's okay, Chuck, so what if you didn't win at a video game? It's not the end of the world."

"Hey, I'm fine, it's not like I just got beaten by a person who hasn't played in six years," Chuck replies, still a little sore from his defeat. His gaming ego is now down a few sizes, thanks to Sarah completely whooping him at practically every game they played.

"I'll make it up to you," she says in a sing-song voice, and Chuck immediately brightens. "You're incorrigible, you are."

"Hmm, be that as it may, but I'm adorable as well, aren't I?" The nerd puts on his thousand-megawatt smile and Sarah smiles back. _I must be the luckiest girl on the world. Even after everything I've done, I've still managed to end up with my dream guy._

"Hey, Earth to Sarah Walker, you still in there?"

Sarah blinks, her eyes focusing on the chocolate brown ones in front of her. "Sorry, zoned out. You were saying?"

"Well, it's time for Part Two of Chuck Bartowski's Night of Charming Sarah Walker," Chuck says, taking her hand and leading her down to the waterfront. Sarah's mouth forms and "o".

"Wow," she breathes. "Oh my god, Chuck, you didn't have to…" She looks at the candle lit dinner table with a vase of gardenias standing on it. "This is beautiful…"

"I thought that maybe it would be a little heavy for, you know, a second date, but I really wanted to do this for you, and I made sure everything was perfect, I mean, um, the food and the wine and the… I'm babbling again, I must seem like such a klutz…" He laughs nervously.

"No, Chuck, this is wonderful!" Sarah beams happily, holding his hands tightly in hers. "I don't think there's another guy in the world who could be as sweet as you."

"Sweet… golly gee, thanks for making me feel like I'm four," Chuck replies, grinning. She giggles.

"Don't take it badly, Chuck. I haven't met any guy who would actually do all this for me, let alone like me for me."

"How could anybody not like you for you?" Chuck answers. "You're incredibly smart, funny, beautiful and kickass, to boot." This elicited a smile from Sarah.

"Thanks," she replies happily. "You're a real heartwarmer, you know?"

"Of course. I pride myself on being top dawg at the heartwarming business." Chuck pauses, and then considers what he just said. "I should never, ever say top dawg again."

Sarah laughs. "You are really adorable. Now hush and lie down on the sand. I want to cuddle." Chuck raises an eyebrow at her. "NOW, Chuck." He hastily obliges, and they hold each other as they watch the sun dip down under the horizon.

* * *

**Yeah, I know, it's been ages, and all you've gotten isn't all that great, but live with it. I'm seriously jetlagged. Stupid BA and its stupid airplane engine fuel intake problems. I slept on a cold, hard, stony floor for a night. Don't try it. It's not fun. Your back starts hurting fifteen minutes into it.**

**Anyways, to all my followers out there, I will still be writing, so look forward to more!**

**Clamman**


	6. Chapter 6

**Fate's Design**

**Chapter 6**

**Main Cast**

**Charles "Chuck" Bartowski – Zachary Levi**

**CIA Special Agent Sarah Walker – Yvonne Strahovski**

**Major John Casey, US Marines, NSA – Adam Baldwin**

**Eleanor "Ellie" Bartowski – Sarah Lancaster**

**Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcombe – Ryan McPartlin**

**Morgan Grimes – Joshua Gomez**

**Supporting Cast**

**Michael "Big Mike" Tucker – Mark Christopher Lawrence**

**Jefferson "Jeff" Barnes – Scott Krinsky**

**Lester Patel – Vik Sahay**

**Guest stars**

**Carina Miller, DEA - Mini Anden**

**Nathaniel J. Patel - Colin Samson**

**David Schmidt - Ricky Jay**

"This is possibly the worst idea in existence," grumbles a man as he stares at a network of pipes with no idea what to do. Another man, larger and bulkier, slaps a wrench into his chest a little harder than necessary.

"Why don't you quit complaining and get working," the larger man growls. "If you haven't noticed, moron, there are armed guards outside who will wonder why the plumber they hired isn't doing any plumbing."

"You see, that is the flaw in your plan," Chuck retorts. "May I point out to you that I am a computer geek. Not a DIY geek. I have absolutely no idea what to do." He shoots a look at the pipes in front of him. "I know for a fact that if I touch those, this room's going to flood with raw sewage."

"I think I'm going to have to go with Chuck," Sarah adds as she attempts to stop a pipe from drenching her with water. "We should have gone with my plan. It may have been a tiny bit more risky, but at least we wouldn't have this problem." She shoots an annoyed look at Casey, who growls again and smashes a pipe with the wrench in his hand.

At once, the contents of the pipe spray out and within minutes water, along with God knows what, is beginning to rise from groundlevel. Chuck looks thoroughly unimpressed. "Great, Casey, now we're going to drown in the bad guys' excrement. Another brilliant idea."

"Shut it, Bartowski, or I'll force you to drink it," Casey threatens and knocks on the door. "Hey! You two! Open the door! The room's flooding!" Naturally, the two guards rush to open the door and after it slides open, Casey smirks. "Thanks." He reaches forward and smashes their heads together, knocking them out cold.

"I still hate you," Chuck shouts as he steps out carefully. "You good, Sarah?"

"Yeah, but I could have done without the sewage bath," she replies, taking a gun and several clips from the unconscious man lying not he floor. She slides one in and loads it, before putting on the safety and slipping behind her back. Chuck is just staring at her. "What?"

"That makes you look so sexy," he breathes and she swats him playfully. "It's true! Not that you're not absolutely stunning anyways, you know." Sarah shoots him a smile and they follow Casey down the corridor.

Five hours earlier

"This is Nathaniel J. Patel, ex-SAS turned gun merchant. He supplied weapons to the Taliban in Afghanistan, drug cartels in Mexico, the list goes on," General Beckman says. "For the past year, we've had absolutely no leads on him. The man was a ghost. Until last week." She hits a key and pictures of Patel with another man appear. "These photos were taken by a CIA reconnaissance team in Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas."

Chuck concentrates on the man on the left - he is short, around five three, and a bit chubby. His black hair is swept to the side, evidently heavily gelled. He looks a little closer and sees a pendant around the man's neck.

_A merry-go-round_

_A swimming pool_

_Files on a David Schimdt_

_Transaction records between Schmidt and a Geocorp International_

_The strange bonsai symbol accompanied by an eagle emblem linked to Geocorp_

_FULCRUM in large red letters_

_A swimming pool_

_A merry-go-round_

Before he can say a word, Chuck's eyes catch sight of a suitcase Schmidt is carrying.

_A turtle lying on its back_

_A pair of blue flowery curtains_

_Blueprints for the computer server housed within the suitcase_

_Server labelled FULCRUM_

_A short video demonstrating how to open the suitcase without triggering any of the inbuilt alarms_

_A pair of blue flowery curtains_

_A turtle lying on its back_

Chuck blinks a little, rubbing his eyes. "Wow, double whammy. I seriously hope that never happens again." The General coughs and looks expectantly at him. "Oh right, the man on the left is David Schmidt, an employee of Geocorp International, which is actually a front for our favorite evil organisation. Fulcrum. And that suitcase he's holding contains a mobile Fulcrum computer server."

The General starts in surprise. "Fulcrum? We had no idea they were involved." She thinks things over. "I am sending you three to Las Vegas tonight. Find Patel and Schmidt, and bring them and the server back. However, the server is the main priority. It _must _be recovered. Understood?" Sarah and Casey nod. "Very well. Good luck."

Present

"Casey, remind me how doing plumbing made our mission easier?"

"Get over yourself, Bartowski," Casey grunts. "It's just a little bit of poo." He takes a quick look down the corridor to their right. "There's another guard in front of that door. We need to get in there." He nods at Sarah. "You're up, Walker."

"I hardly think- Sarah, what are you doing! Come back!" Chuck hisses. The blonde ignores him and heads over to the guard with a suggestive smile. "What is she doing!"

"Induction of enemy personnel," the Major replies. Seeing the nonplussed look on the nerd's face, he rolls his eyes. "Seduction, moron, she's seducing him."

"You're kidding, right?" Chuck asks. "Right?"

Casey gives a "see-for-yourself-moron" grunt and Chuck takes a look. His jaw drops.

Sarah is practically kissing the guy.

"Sarah!" he exclaims, forgetting where they are. The guy looks surprised at the newly arrived nerd and before he can do anything, Sarah punches him hard in the stomach.

"What are you doing!" she hisses at Chuck, before turning around and sending her foot into the guard's face, slamming him into the wall. He collapses to the ground unconscious.

"You were basically kissing!" he argues indignantly. "I, as your bo- friend, think that was slightly disgusting. And when I say slightly, I mean incredibly disgusting!" Casey shoots them suspiscious glances.

"We'll talk about this _later_," Sarah replies through gritted teeth, shifting her glance between Chuck and Casey. "Let's get that server."

After they get past the door, they find a service elevator and Casey smiles briefly. "That, moron, was the reason why we did the plumbing."

"An elevator." Chuck claps sarcastically. "It's not like we passed five of them on the way here." Casey glares at him and he immediately shuts up.

"Chuck, this elevator can get us up to the VIP level," Sarah informs him. "And this is the only elevator which doesn't have a security camera."

"Oh. I didn't know that."

Ten minutes later, the doors slid open, and the trio of spies slip out. "The suite Patel and Schmidt are in is down that way," Sarah whispers. "Number 306." Casey nods and makes his way to the suite.

Once the NSA agent is out of earshot, Chuck taps his gitlfriend on the shoulder. "Sarah, we need to talk. What the heck was that back there? I don't know about you, but when I see the person I'm dating canoodling with another person-"

"Canoodling?" Sarah can't help but be amused. "Seriously."

"Okay, I admit, poor choice of word, but the point still stands! What was that?"

The blonde sighs fretfully. "Look, Chuck, I promise I'll tell you, but not now, okay? Please?" Chuck still looks reluctant, and so Sarah gives him a kiss. "I promise, Chuck."

"Okay." Chuck nods. "I trust you."

This affirmation makes Sarah smile a bit. "Come on, let's hurry before Casey gets any ideas."

They hurried to the suite, where Casey was already preparing to break in. "Where'd you two run off two?" he asks.

"Chuck, uh, got scared," Sarah makes up, earning her a pointed look from her boyfriend. "I had to persuade him to come along."

"Typical Bartowski," the Major grunts. "There's three people in there - Patel, Schmidt and another." He places a device on the door and taps his earpiece. "And from the sounds of it, they've hired themselves a little entertainment."

"How are we supposed to do this?" Chuck whispers. "We don't have tranq guns. If we go in guns blazing we'll alert everybody on this level."

"That's why Walker's going in," Casey grunts. Chuck grimaces a little, but trusting his girlfriend, he allows himself to loosen a bit.

"This is what you wanted?" the woman asks seductively as she slowly pulls off her shorts, wiggling her hips as she does so. Patel nods and pulls her close to him. He strokes her smoky red hair and breathes in her scent, sighing deeply in relaxation.

"How about you do a little more?" he says, taking a wad of cash from his pants. "Let's see you without your top." She giggles and pushes herself off him.

"Not yet, sugar," she wags her finger at him. She is about to continue dancing when there is a knock at the door.

"Get it, Schmidt," Patel says. The other man huffs, and then gets up. He opens the door and smiles widely when he sees the person on the other side.

"Hello darling!" he exclaims. "Come in, please, come in." Sarah smiles and, giving him a wink, walks into the suite. "I had no idea you were coming."

"There must have been some sort of mix up at the agency," the CIA agent answers. "I was told to come here. Although, I can't say I mind at all…" She looks Schmidt up and down with a glint in her eye. "I'm Charlie."

"Hmm, Charlie…" The man takes her hand and leads her to the bedroom. "Hey! Patel! There's another girl!"

"Double the fun," the other guy manages to get out, engaged in a fierce liplock with the woman sitting on his lap.

"So, Charlie, amaze me," Schmidt says in a silky voice.

Sarah smiles seductively. "No problem." She leans down as if to stretch, and then quickly cartwheels forward, kicking the man in the forehead. He collapses backwards in a heap.

"The fuck!" Patel swears and shoves the woman off him, reaching for a gun tucked under the pillow. However, before he can bring the weapon to bear, he is struck from behind and falls forward, unconscious.

The red-haired woman smiles as she steps over Patel's prone form. "Well, well, if it isn't little Sarah Walker. How's my bestie been doing?"

"Carina?"

The next day

"Team, this is Agent Carina Miller of the DEA," General Beckman introduces.

The red-haired agent smiles. "I think a few of us are already acquainted. Casey, I hope I didn't hurt your back permanently the last time we met?"

The Major growls something under his breath about "damn hardwood chairs". Sarah suppresses a grin. She is already aware of the "chair bondage incident", having been informed by her friend the day after it happened.

"I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you, though," Carina turns her attention to Chuck, and gives him a flirty look. "And you are?"

Before Chuck has a chance to answer (and most likely make a fool of himself), Beckman coughs and they focus back on the screen. "Thank you. As for the mission, I am pleased to say that the package was safely transported and dealt with."

"General, if I may ask, what was in that suitcase?" Carina inquires. "Intel the DEA recieved suggested it might be some kind of weapon-"

"I'm afraid I am not at liberty to divulge that information to you, Agent Miller," Beckman answers. "It is highly classified. I hope you won't pry further into this matter?"

Pause. "Of course not." The redhead puts on a smile. "So, General, should I be leaving now?"

"Orders haven't come through from the DEA yet, so you are to stay in Burbank until further notice. If that is all, goodnight." The General signs off.

Carina gets up from her seat and stretches, deliberately giving Chuck a full view of her smooth toned belly. He gulps loudly and Sarah stares at him, looking evidently annoyed.

"So, who are you, boy scout?" Carina asks, smiling brightly at him.

"Wh-who, me?" Chuck laughs nervously. "I'm, I'm, uh, Ch-"

"Charles Carmichael, CIA," Sarah cuts in. "Just brought out into the field."

"Charles, you say?" Carina eyes him hungrily, and Chuck begins to feel what it must be like for a mouse when hunted by a cat. "I'm Carina."

"Hi!" His voice sounds an octave higher than usual.

Carina leans in close and whispers into his ear, "You know, Charles, you're very handsome. Maybe you and I can, you know?"

Seeing this exchange, Sarah is doing her best to keep herself from pummelling her friend to a pulp, and clears her throat loudly. "Carina, can I have a word?"

The red head shoots her a sideways glance. "Sure, why not?" She turns back to Chuck. "Remember, Charles." Before he can do anything, she leans forward and places a delicate kiss on his lips.

Chuck can practically feel the death rays emanating from Sarah and quickly pushes Carina away from him. "That was, uh, completely uncalled for, and, um, not welcome at all. I'm, ah, going to pretend that never happened." Without another word, he made a run for the door.

He slams it behind him. "Oh god, I am so dead. _So _dead!"

Once they were alone, Sarah frowns deeply at her friend. "Carina…" she says warningly.

"What, he's not gay, is he?" Carina asks. "Because that's totally fine with me."

"No!" Sarah replies, annoyed. "Just lay off him, okay?"

Carina raises an eyebrow. "Why? Is he taken already? 'Cos that fine too." That earns her another look from Sarah. "What? If he chooses to cheat, that's his decision!"

"Your morals are loose as ever."

The redhead offers her a wink. "Only way to live and have fun, Walker. Hey, you want to hit the bars? This time of night they'll be packed full of guys, ripe for the picking."

Sarah puts on her best faked apologetic face. "Thanks, but no thanks. I've got a lot of stuff to finish off." Maybe I can get some couple time with Chuck, she wonders.

Unfortunately, the DEA agent sees past the façade. "Oh, Walker, you didn't." Carina covers her mouth. "Oh dear lord, you did."

"Did what?"

"You're in love with Carmichael!" the DEA agent proclaims loudly.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too, infinity times and no returns!"

"You know we're not four."

Carina shrugs. "It doesn't matter, my point still stands. You're in love with Carmichael! You broke the cardinal rule of spying!"

"I most certainly did not," Sarah replies, schooling her features into an impassive mask. "And I have no interest whatsoever in Agent Carmichael."

"Is that so?" Carina grins as she folds her arms. "So if I went up to him and made out with him, you personally wouldn't have a problem?"

"No, I suppose I wouldn't," Sarah agrees through gritted teeth. _Boy, Carina's going to pay for this._

"Good, 'cos I'm going to do that right now," Carina grins as she takes off after Chuck. Sarah growls and heads for the door as well.

A CIA transport van is making its way to a Supermax prison when suddenly a rocket strikes it in the side, knocking it over. The drivers scramble out, coughing, but are despatched quickly with shots to the head.

A few balaclava-ed men rush to the van and smash open the locked doors, revealing a coughing Patel and wheezing Schmidt. "Good, you're here, get us out," Patel groans.

The men nod and help the two out of the wrecked, overturned van. "I want to know who those women were within an hour," Patel orders. "When you find out, I'm going to find them and kill them myself."

Chuck slouches on his couch and turns on the TV, flicking through until he finds a channel playing Star Trek. He leans back just as Carina walks through the front door, and he immediately turns the TV off. "Um, hi again-"

Carina grabs him by the shirt and pulls him into a searing kiss, wrapping her arms around him and rubbing as much of herself against him as possible. Chuck's eyes bulge in panic.

He sees a flash of gold and feels himself being torn away from the redhead, and finds himself standing in front of his girlfriend, who looks absolutely livid. Carina, on the other hand, looks as happy as a kitten with a ball of yarn.

"Carina," Sarah growls. "Get. Out. Now." Carina obliges and leaves, but not before waving flirtatiously at the nerd.

Chuck has a feeling he's going to die. Yup, by the look on his girlfriend's face he is definitely going to. "Sarah, before you do anything, you must know that _she _came onto _me_-"

"I know that." Sarah allows herself to deflate a little and wrings her hands. "It's just that… Carina's like a sister. An ultra-competitive sister. She knows that you and I are, you know, and so she won't rest until she's, well, slept with you."

Chuck's eyes widen. "What!"

"And that's not going to happen, is it, mister?" Sarah inquires with a sweet but deadly tone. "Because you know what will happen if it does?"

"I'll die?"

The blonde's eyes narrow. "Much worse than that, Mr. Bartowski, much, much worse." For effect, she throws a pencil at a photo he has on his desk and impales it. Chuck's jaw drops. "Got it?"

Chuck nods dumbly and his girlfriend smiles. "Glad we got that sorted," she says sweetly. "Now, let's go lunch." She leads him out to her Porsche. "Got any good ideas?"

"Well, we could always swing by the Wienerlicious," Chuck suggests with a grin and Sarah makes a face. "What? I personally find their corndogs so good that it's worth having the several consecutive heart attacks that come with them."

The blonde grins. "I once had to work in a Wienerlicious as a cover, and I have to say, it was horrible. My clothes constantly smelt of sausage, or rather burnt sausage. I was never very good at flipping the sausages." She huffs a little. "Anyways, Chuck, what's it going to be?"

"Hmmm, I think I know a place."

As they enter the restaurant, Chuck notices that Sarah has stopped and is looking nervous. "You okay, Sarah?"

The blonde shifts uncomfortably._ I have to tell him. Even if it ruins what we have. I can't lie to him. _After the waiter leads them to their table, she reaches forward to clasp onto his hands. "I know you want an explanation for what happened during the mission, and I'm going to tell you the truth." She draws in a deep breath. "Chuck, in this line of work, in order to achieve your goals you have to make use of everything, because if you don't, it could cost you your life." She grimaces. "It means that sometimes you have to use yourself."

"That's… horrible," Chuck frowns. "You must hate it."

Sarah nods. "I do, it's the worst part of the job. Going around, flirting with strangers, letting them touch you, it makes me feel like- like-"

She feels a warm arm over he shoulders and leans down to rest her head against Chuck's chest. Only then does she realise she's crying. "Sarah," he whispers, "I understand. Don't cry, please don't cry, I'm sorry…"

She sniffles. "What for?"

"I didn't think before I shouted at you back there," Chuck replies. "I'm such an idiot sometimes…" He tilts her chin up and looks deeply into her eyes. "Can you forgive me?"

"Chuck…" She cannot understand how she could have been so lucky to have him. He isn't holding anything against her, and instead blaming himself for what happened. "You didn't do anything wrong, you were just-"

Chuck silences her with a gentle kiss. "Hey, it's okay, you know I lo- like you a lot, I understand completely."

Sarah makes no reaction to his slip-up and wipes her eyes a little. "So, this is a Morgan recommendation," Sarah asks with a watery chuckle. "You sure this place is properly sanitised?"

"Hey, hey, no faith in the bearded one!" Chuck exclaims with surprise. "Morgan, despite his outwardly messy and scruffy appearance, demands the best from everything which goes into his stomach. Any suggestion of his is a good one to follow."

"I'll have to trust you on that," the blonde replies, her mood brightening a little. "So, what are we having?"

"Dumplings! According to Morgan, they're like "little edible bags filled with the delicate flavours of the Orient", which is actually surprisingly eloquent." Sarah nods in agreement. "He's not as stupid as he leads you on to think, that Morgan. You know he figured out you and I were together before I even told him?"

"Really? Morgan?"

"What can I say? Being my best friend for over twenty years has made him an expert at reading me." The waitress places their orders on the table and smiles courteously as she leaves. "Aha!" he declares, picking up his chopsticks, and begins to eat, when Sarah snickers at him. "What? Is there something on my shirt?"

"No, it's just that you're holding those a little wrong," she points out, showing him how she held the chopsticks. "Move your index finger a little, no, back a bit, now your middle finger, yeah, there! You've got it."

Chuck picks at a dumpling. "You are a fantastic teacher, Sarah Walker." He continues to eat, but stops when he sees a man seated on a table a few metres away from them. "Oh no, not now, please not now."

_A birght pink flamingo_

_A tango dancer in a flaming red dress_

_Files on a Sergey Kaplov_

_Images of Kaplov's kills_

_A tango dancer in a flaming red dress_

_A bright pink flamingo_

"Did you just flash?" Sarah asks, concerned.

"_That _is Sergey Kaplov, ex-KGB, now a hired gun," he whispers back. "I'm sure he's just here for the superb prawn dump-"

"He's got a gun."

"So? You've got a gun too."

Sarah looks at him. "About that…"

The nerd slaps himself in the head. "Of course you didn't bring your gun. Just had to jinx it."

"Chuck, I don't bring guns on dates!"

"What? Why?"

"Because it's a date!"

"Is everything okay, sir?" the waiter inquires. "More water?"

"Yeah, water would be-"

_A man wading out to sea_

_A run-down motorcar_

_Files on a Lora Rhodes_

_Photos of Rhodes making bombs and setting timers_

_Newspaper articles on explosions in Chechnya_

_A run-down motorcar_

_A man wading out to sea_

"-good." Chuck puts on a fake smile and the waiter nods, heading back to the kitchen. Sarah is now looking worried. "Sarah, that was Lora Rhodes, private mercenary, responsible for the murders of hundreds of civilians in Chechnya." Chuck turns around to check on Rhodes' position, and catches sight of a table of people sitting close by the window.

Sarah shakes his arm. "What is it? Where's Rhodes?"

"Sarah," Chuck hisses out. "I think we're surrounded."

"I'm calling Casey," Sarah whispers back, reaching for her phone. Immediately, the assembled mercenaries stand up and train their weapons on them. Chuck shrieks.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you." A man clad in a posh suit steps in and cocks his gun in Chuck's face. "Would you mind telling me who _you _are?"

Chuck gulps at the sight of the weapon. "I'm, uh, nobody! Really, really nobody! And she's nobody too! Well, not nobody per se, because she's my girlfriend, you see, but I'm guessing she's nobody to you, huh, right?"

Patel sneers. "On the contrary, I happen to have a great deal of interest in your lady friend. She and I have some unfinished business." He points the gun at the blonde. "Now, you're going to tell me where your partner is right now or I'll blow your brains out." Sarah makes no response and he presses the barrel against her temple. "Do you want to die?"

There is a blur of movement and Patel screams, clutching at his throat, from where two wooden chopsticks are protruding. Sarah yanks the gun from his grip and, pulling Chuck to the ground with her, opens fire on Kaplov, tagging him in the shoulder and stomach. He topples over his chair and hits the floor with a thud.

All hell breaks loose as the assembled mercenaries fire their weapons at the couple. "Chuck!" she shouts. "Call for back-up!"

Chuck reaches into his pocket and pauses. "I, um, left my phone in my room." Sarah glares daggers at him. "What? You left your gun in your room!"

Sarah fires off another few rounds. "Need I remind you again, I do _not _bring guns on dates!" Another few shots. "You're damn lucky I've got my phone! Back pocket!"

Carina is throwing knives aimlessly at a chopping board in Casey's apartment. _Hmm. So, Walker's gone and found herself a replacement for ol' Bryce Larkin. Good for her._

To be honest, she never really liked Larkin (the guy was more cocky than she thought was possible), and beyond a good one-night-stand she can't really see what Sarah saw in him to make it a semi-proper relationship. She tosses another knife.

This Charles Carmichael business is an entirely different matter. Sarah is possessive, protective, and downright aggressive when it comes down to him, and this is something Carina never saw during the entirety of the blonde's relationship with Larkin. Maybe that says something. Maybe Sarah really loved the guy.

She throws again, only this time the knife is caught in the air, millimetres from the board. "Casey!" she whines playfully.

The Major growls warningly. "This is not a playground, Miller."

"Could've fooled me," she mutters under her breath. "So, Casey, you remember that night in Jakarta?"

"I try not to."

"You ever wonder what could have happen that night if you hadn't chickened out and ran?"

"First of all, I did not chicken out. My mission was over. So I left. Second of all, no, I do not. Not all of us are driven by a insatiable libido."

"Well put, Major," she gets up and wraps herself around him. "Now, I'm going to show you what you missed." Casey can barely get a grunt out before Carina pulls him onto the ground.

A long hour later, Casey pulls himself into a standing position, supporting himself on the table. His face twitches slightly in pain as he massages his back, and he staggers forwards the fridge.

Carina giggles as she gets up. "Wow, John, I never knew you had it in you," she purrs. "I hope you liked it, and, judging by your grunts during it, it seems you did." She laughs again when Casey growls in annoyance and takes a swig of cold water.

"This doesn't change anything between us, Miller."

"Oh, I know. The last ten times didn't change a thing - you're still Uncle Sam's biggest fan, and me? Well, I'm just me." She sneaks a bottle of beer out of his fridge and flicks off the lid with a knife. "What did you do to get stationed in this suburban bore? You didn't kill somebody you weren't supposed to, did you?"

"Don't want to talk about it." He brings his glass to his lips just as his phone rings. He picks it up. "Walker?"

"Casey? Casey! It's Chuck!" the nerd screams into the phone over loud gunfire. "We have a problem!"

Casey grabs his car keys and ushers Carina to the door. "Where are you?"

"The Paper Lantern in Chinatown!"

"Hurry the hell up!" shouts Sarah. "I'm nearly out of ammo!"

Casey hangs up and rushes to his Crown Vic, slipping inside and revving the engine up. Carina gets into the front passenger seat with a small smirk. "Boy, do you have an antiquated taste," she remarks.

"Can it, Miller," the Major growls. "Gun in the glove compartment." He reverses out of the parking lot and floors it, darting past a long line of traffic. Carina finds the weapon and loads it.

"What's the problem?"

"Walker and the moron managed to get themselves into trouble," comes the reply. "I'm guessing your friend Patel's looking for a good bit of revenge." He grins evilly. "Finally, time for some gunplay."

The CIA agent tosses her empty gun to the floor and forward rolls from behind her cover, before returning to a standing position, engaging Rhodes in a vicious duel. She feints a punch to the right, and then strikes out with he left fist, catching the mercenary in the gut and sending reeling slightly. Rhodes recovers, however, and succeeds in landing a kick to Sarah's abdomen, knocking her back to Chuck's position.

She is pissed, to say the least. Attemtping to kill her was one thing. Doing so whilst she was on a date with her Chuck was another. Getting back to her feet, she launches herself forward and delivers a hard punch to her opponent's jaw, grinning at the resounding crack as the bone fractures. Rhodes staggers backwards.

Sarah turns just in time to see a Crown Vic heading straight for the restaurant at breackneck speed and, reacting immediately, aims a kick at the nerd, and knocks him out of the way of the incoming car before diving to the side herself. With a loud crash, the Crown Vic plows through the front of the restaurant, slamming into Rhodes and catapulting her into the back table, causing the remaining baddies to scatter in search for cover.

"Somebody order drive-thru?" Casey announces as he steps out, firing as he goes. Carina rolls her eyes and follows suite, tacking cover behind an overturned table.

Chuck stares at Casey with disbelief. "Ha! Somebody order drive-thru! Ha ha ha! Did you think that up when you were driving here? Hey, maybe I'll say this after I _crash into the restaurant!_" Casey gives him a withering look in response and takes a few shots.

"Nice work, Walker," comments Carina observing a bled-out Patel lying among the broken furniture and plates. "Chopsticks to the throat. Not a nice way to go." She drops two guys with single taps to the chest. "Looks like I'm winning, Casey!" The Major merely grunts in response and continues to shoot.

Meanwhile, Sarah grabs Chuck and shoves him rather unceremoniously into the back seat of the Vic, slamming the door shut behind him. "Stay in the car!" she hollers over the gunshots.

"But-" Several bullets ping off the hood and Chuck throws himself to the floor with a shriek. "I will!"

Half an hour later

"-and that was how our first meeting went." Carina grins smugly at Casey.

There is an uncomfortable silence as Casey drives the four of them back to Echo Park. "That I did _not _need to know," Chuck mutters. Sarah agrees silently.

"Miller…" Casey growls with due anger. His hands tighten on the steering wheel.

"What?" The DEA agent asks innocently. "I thought it was a great story."

Before Casey can make a retort, Chuck coughs loudly. "No more stories, please, Carina. I think you've already given me enough sleepless nights with your last one." He glances behind them to look for, if any, cars in pursuit. "How the hell did Patel escape?" I distinctly remember you saying that he was supposed to be locked up in some Supermax prison."

"Someone must have screwed up," Casey says with a twinge of annoyance. "I'd love to know who did. Give them a good old session of disciplining."

The rest of the journey is silent and after ten minutes, the Crown Vic pulls up in the parking lot. They head back to Casey's apartment, but he stops the DEA agent from entering.

"We need a private debrief with the General," Casey grunts. "Wait here."

The team, minus Carina, put in a call to General Beckman.

"General." Casey salutes his superior briefly.

"Major Casey, I hope you have an explanation for the spectacle you caused in Chinatown."

"The arms dealer we took down somehow managed to escape," the Major says. "He went after Agent Walker and the Intersect, but was eliminated when Agent Miller and I provided back-up."

"I wasn't aware of the sitatuon," Beckman replies. "However, I have just dispatched a NSA cleaner team to deal with the scene. Your covers should be intact." She turns her attention to a new report an assistant places on her desk. "Thank you, Barbara." Flicking through it, a frown develops. "Schmidt was found dead in a dumpster downtown. It seems that somebody is cleaning up loose ends."

"Could it be… Fulcrum?" Sarah ventures. "Schmidt loses them a major piece of their network, gets executed as retribution."

"We're treating it as a definite probability at the current moment," the General responds. "The Fulcrum server we captured has turned up a vast amount of intel on their organisation and, thanks to your efforts, we know now the identities of several Fulcrum agents within the CIA and NSA. We have also intercepted a package being in transit to LA, and our technicians are dealing with it as we speak." Before signing off, she offers them a small smile. "Good job."

"So that wasn't too bad, was it?" Chuck asks cheerfully. "I mean, I only need about several thousand volts to wipe the image of a naked Casey tied to a bedframe from my mind." Casey growls loudly and the nerd takes it as a cue to leg it. Sarah follows with a smile.

"You're kinda tempting fate, aren't you?" the blonde says.

"I know, but it's too hard to resist, you know?" Chuck grins, and quickly kisses her. "Rather like you."

Sarah smiles back. "Thanks. You're not so bad yourself, you know."

Chuck pouts. "Puh-leese, I'm fantastic."

"Yeah. You are." They kiss briefly again, and then hug, enjoying the feeling of each other.

"Awwww…" sighs a woman's voice from across the yard. "They're so sweet!"

"It's just really awesome Chuck's finally found himself a girl that loves him as much as he loves her," agrees Devon, watching on from the doorway. "I wonder how long it's going to be before we hear wedding bells chiming."

"Not _too _long, I hope," Ellie says, giving her boyfriend a pointed look. She shifts her gaze back to the couple in the courtyard. "Hey! Chuck! Sarah! Dinner's ready! And I've made your favourites!"

Chuck smiles. "The call of Ellie. Come on, lets's go in before she goes hyper." He takes his girlfriend's hand and they head to their apartment.

After dinner, Chuck walks Sarah back to her apartment and after a rather long and eventful goodbye, the nerd saunters down the stairs with a grin plastered on his face. He does a little victory dance, and when he finishes he realises Carina, who has not yet left, was watching him the whole time. "Um, uh, ahem," he coughs hurriedly. "I was, uh…" He trails off and a faint tint of red develops on his face.

"Charles." Carina walks up purposefully to him, and Chuck immediately covers his mouth. "I'm not going to kiss you. I need to tell you something." Chuck slowly relaxes, still watching the red-head carefully. "I can see that you and Sarah are clearly in love, and that's great. She's my best friend, and she deserves someone to love her. Just don't hurt her."

"I wasn't planning to," Chuck answers firmly. "Ever. Sarah's… Sarah's the best thing in my whole screwed up life right now, and will be for the rest of it."

Carina allows herself a smile, satisfied. "Good. You'd better, or I'll come back and kick what's left of your ass after Sarah's done with it." She turns to leave, but stops midway. "Seriously though, after the whole Larkin disaster, Sarah really doesn't another heartbreak."

"I kno-" Chuck stops mid-sentence. "Wait. What "Larkin disaster"?"

"Bryce Larkin, her old boyfriend. He went rogue and got killed," Carina explains. "Betrayed her and stomped all over her heart. Didn't you know?"

"No." He keeps the shock from showing on his face. "I didn't."

Meanwhilst, the Major is in his own apartment, doing a little R&R. He brings a glass of Johnny Walker Blue to his lips and visibly relaxes after a long drink. He hits play on a remote and settles himself down for an evening of old war films.

Just as the first Howitzer goes off, the film cuts out, replaced by the face of General Beckman. "Major Casey. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"No, ma'am," Casey answers. "May I ask why you're calling, General?"

"The package we intercepted earlier was opened by our technicians ten minutes ago." Beckamn pauses, and takes her glasses off. "Bryce Larkin was inside."

* * *

**So here's chapter 6 for y'all, worked hard for this update, so please review!**

**Chapter 7's already in the works, so you can look forward to another update, maybe in a week and a half... (damn real world)**

**P.S. Thanks to coreymon77 for being my beta, he helped me shape this story, so everybody give him some applause.**


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